The aerospace industry is in an incessant search for new materials. We have already talked about some of them in this blog, highlighting the case of Endohedral Fullerene, from the family of endohedral fullerenes, which would favour a significant advance in aircraft automation thanks to the millimetric precision that it will allow GPS devices, among many other applications. Also in late 2015, the aeronautical manufacturer Boeing announced the lightest known metallic structure; a metallic micro-grid composed of a structure (with 99.99% of air) that would lead to lighter and, therefore, more efficient aircraft in global terms.
There is speculation that it could be used to make zero-resistance electrical wiring, which would change the current understanding of conductivity in aircraft.
Now, after more than 80 years of fantasising about the idea of creating a unique material on Earth that could revolutionising the field of physics based on the hydrogen in its metal stateProfessor of Natural Sciences Isaac Silvera and researcher Ranga Dias of Harvard University have succeeded and published their study in the journal Science: "Observation of the Wigner-Huntington transition to solid metallic hydrogen".
Many researchers have believed in achieving the metallic state of hydrogen, and many have dedicated their lives to trying to find the right formula, but what is exciting about the race to achieve solid metallic hydrogen is the adventure of the milestone itself. It is both so pursued and yet so important because atomic metallic hydrogen would allow fundamental questions to be answered about the nature of matter or how the largest gaseous planets, such as Jupiter, generate their magnetic field. It is also believed that this material is a superconductor at room temperatureThe zero-resistance, zero-resistive material could be a great renewal in the transmission and storage of electricity. On the other hand, some scientists have claimed that solid metallic hydrogen could be stable at low pressures, making it a material that could have a host of applications in industry, from fusion power to use as an energy carrier.
But what is the specific interest of the aerospace industry in this discovery?
To date, the qualities we have seen of hydrogen in its super-cold liquid form are focused on its power as a rocket propellant. With the metal-dense form of hydrogen, we could, in practice, find ourselves with a material that would provide titanic levels of thrust that would allow very heavy loads to lift off from Earth. There is also speculation that it could be used to make zero resistance electrical wiringwhich would change the current understanding of conductivity by reducing the mass of wires present on any aircraft. The US space agency, like many others, is fascinated by the possibilities.
There is a lot of competition in physics and it is certain that the result will soon be reproduced and refuted by other researchers. There will be those who confirm the success or perhaps we are facing a new false alarm. We will have to wait a few months to find out. For now there is a lot of noise generated by this new scientific contribution but, as Marcus Knudson, of Sandia National Laboratories in the US, told the BBC: "The scepticism that has been created by this news is probably a good thing, as it will motivate many other scientists to reproduce the experiment.
For now, we are in the early stages of this scientific breakthrough. The amount of metallic hydrogen that has been achieved is very small, but if further experiments yield positive results, different ways of boosting its production will surely be found.
The aerospace industry is hungry for discoveries that, like this one, can revolutionise many facets of the industry.
