Mercury goes Solid at room temperature at nanoscale and a potential Hg waste storage.

ABSTRACT: While room temperature bulk mercury is liquid, it is solid in its nano-configuration (Ø_nano-Hg ≤ 2.5 nm). Conjugating the nano-scale size effect and the Laplace driven surface excess pressure, Hg nanoparticles of Ø_nano-Hg ≤ 2.4 nm embedded in a 2-D turbostratic Boron Nitride (BN) host matrix exhibited a net crystallization at room temperature via the experimentally observed (101) and (003) diffraction Bragg peaks of the solid Hg rhombohedral α-phase. The observed crystallization is correlated to a surface atomic ordering of 7 to 8 reticular atomic plans of the rhombohedral α-phase. Such a novelty of size effect on phase transition phenomena in Hg is conjugated to a potential Hg waste storage technology. Considering the vapor pressure of bulk Hg, Room Temperature (RT)

SUBMITTER: Kana N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8894422 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature