dry ice



Here is a novel form of solid carbon dioxide (CO2). You are sure to mistaken it as window glass - so can call it a window glass on the atomic scale. Scientists have made this new material by applying extreme pressures to normal solid carbon dioxide.



The new material is dubbed amorphous carbonia. It could prove important for understanding the gas-giant planets’ interiors where CO2 is squeezed at high pressures. Now ultrahard glass can also be made from the substance as it is expected to be very stiff, like diamond.



The researchers squeezed normal solid carbon dioxide at pressures of around 400,000 to 500,000 atmospheres (or 40 to 50 GPa) to make the new a-carbonia. Having bigger applications, the material could be used in the field of planetary physics, as the gas-giant planets’ interiors like Jupiter, contain carbon dioxide under pressures of more than 40GPa!



Via: physicsweb