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Two Components: Liquid–Liquid Systems01:27

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A pressure-composition phase diagram explicitly describes the behavior of an ideal solution of two volatile liquids under varying pressures and compositions. A pressure-composition diagram has two main curves. The bubble point curve represents the plot of pressure versus liquid mole fraction. It indicates the pressure at which the first bubble of vapor forms from the liquid phase as the system pressure decreases.The dew point curve is the pressure versus vapor mole fraction. It indicates the...
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Supercritical Nitrogen Processing for the Purification of Reactive Porous Materials
09:05

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Published on: May 15, 2015

First-order liquid-liquid phase transition in compressed nitrogen.

Brian Boates1, Stanimir A Bonev

  • 1Department of Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 3J5, Canada.

Physical Review Letters
|March 5, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

High-pressure simulations reveal liquid nitrogen transforms from molecular to polymeric forms. This first-order phase transition occurs near 88 GPa, with implications for materials science under extreme conditions.

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Area of Science:

  • Condensed matter physics
  • Materials science
  • Computational chemistry

Background:

  • Nitrogen exhibits complex phase behavior under extreme pressure and temperature conditions.
  • Understanding the states of nitrogen is crucial for planetary science and materials under extreme conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the phase transitions of nitrogen using first-principles molecular dynamics.
  • To characterize the predicted polymeric liquid nitrogen phase and its transition boundary.
  • To propose experimental validation methods for the predicted phase transition.

Main Methods:

  • First-principles molecular dynamics simulations were employed.
  • Simulations explored high-pressure and high-temperature regimes of nitrogen.
  • Thermodynamic and structural properties were analyzed to identify phase transitions.

Main Results:

  • A first-order phase transition from molecular to polymeric liquid nitrogen was predicted.
  • The liquid-liquid phase boundary was mapped near 88 GPa (2000 K isotherm).
  • A critical point for this transition was located between 4000–5000 K and 50–75 GPa.
  • At higher temperatures, nitrogen dissociates into an atomic liquid.

Conclusions:

  • Liquid nitrogen undergoes a significant structural transformation to a polymeric phase at high pressures.
  • The predicted phase diagram provides a roadmap for experimental studies of nitrogen under extreme conditions.
  • Experimental confirmation of the molecular-to-polymeric transition is feasible and proposed.