Predicted formation of superconducting platinum-hydride crystals under pressure in the presence of molecular hydrogen

TL;DR

This paper predicts that platinum can form hydrides under high pressure, which are superconducting with critical temperatures up to 25 K, shedding light on pressure-induced superconductivity in hydrogen-rich materials.

Contribution

It introduces the prediction of platinum hydride formation under high pressure and its superconducting properties, a novel insight into noble metal hydrides.

Findings

PtH is more stable than solid Pt and hydrogen above 21.5 GPa.

Structural transitions of PtH occur between 70 and 80 GPa.

PtH is predicted to be a superconductor with T_c of 10-25 K.

Abstract

Noble metals adopt close-packed structures at ambient pressure and rarely undergo structural transformation at high pressures. Platinum (Pt), in particular, is normally considered to be unreactive and is therefore not expected to form hydrides under pressure. We predict that platinum hydride (PtH) has a lower enthalpy than its constituents solid Pt and molecular hydrogen at pressures above 21.5 GPa. We have calculated structural phase transitions from tetragonal to hexagonal close-packed or face-centered cubic (fcc) PtH between 70 and 80 GPa. Linear response calculations indicate that PtH is a superconductor at these pressures with a critical temperature of about 10--25 K. These findings help to shed light on recent observations of pressure-induced metallization and superconductivity in hydrogen-rich materials. We show that formation of fcc metal hydrides under pressure is common among noble metal hydrides and examine the possibility of superconductivity in these materials.