Ricerc@Sapienza

All models of interiors of ice bodies in the Universe rely on our knowledge of the behavior of a few simple molecules under high pressure and temperature, water being the most intriguing of them, due to its connection with life existence. Recently our team has shown that solid water under pressure can unexpectedly build up substantial amount of guest species, like ions or small gas molecules, in its lattice. The inclusion of these guest species can strongly modify the structural, dynamical, thermal and conductivity properties of ice, and promote novel exotic properties, such as the recently discovered superionicity [1]- a spectacular state of matter in which the proton diffuses and the crystalline system becomes a black hot proton super-conductor, and unexpected phenomena, such as the hyperdiffusion and hyper miscibility of methane in ice clathrates [2,3].
The existence of filled ices in extra-terrestrial bodies challenges the present description of their physics, essentially based on the properties of pure ice. Filled ices also show an enhanced gas storage and recovery capability, implying the possibility of future applications for fuel recovery and CO2 sequestration. The ultimate goal of our project is to define the range of existence of ions/gas-filled ice structures, characterize their formation, unravel their exotic properties, and tailor their future applications, by combining new groundbreaking experimental and simulation methods developed by our team, which will give access to physical properties not otherwise derivable. To this aim we combine the high pressure quasi elastic neutron scattering technique, developed by the PI, (patent n1358938 (2016)), with time resolved infrared and Raman studies, and ab-initio structural search and spectroscopy (Bachelet, Boeri). Both the PI and LB have joined la Sapienza in the last two years, after a substantial international experience. This project will help them establishing their independent research at la Sapienza.