Researchers Predict Material Would Have Highest Known Melting Point

Posted on July 28, 2015

Scientists from Brown University have identified a material that would have a higher melting point than any known substance. The discovery was made using powerful computer simulations. The material would be a combination of hafnium, nitrogen and carbon.

The scientists say the compound would have a melting about of about two-thirds the temperature at the surface of the sun. It would be 200 kelvins higher than the highest melting point ever recorded experimentally. The current record holder is a substance made from the elements hafnium, tantalum, and carbon (Hf-Ta-C).

Axel van de Walle, associate professor of engineering at Brown University and co-author of the study, says in a statement, "The advantage of starting with the computational approach is we can try lots of different combinations very cheaply and find ones that might be worth experimenting with in the lab. Otherwise we'd just be shooting in the dark. Now we know we have something that's worth a try."

The scientists - Van de Walle and co-author postdoctoral researcher Qijun Hong - plan to synthesize the material and test their findings in the lab. They are collaborating with Alexandra Navrotsky's lab at the University of California–Davis to synthesize the compound and perform the melting point experiments. Navrotksy's lab is equipped for these type of high-temperature experiments.

A research paper on the findings can be found here in the journal, Physical Review B (Rapid Communications).

CHEMISTRY