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The only known compound of sodium and hydrogen is archetypal ionic NaH. Application of high pressure is known to promote states with higher atomic coordination, but extensive searches for polyhydrides with unusual stoichiometry have had only limited success in spite of several theoretical predictions. Here we report the first observation of the formation of polyhydrides of Na (NaH3 and NaH7) above 40 GPa and 2,000 K. We combine synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell and theoretical random structure searching, which both agree on the stable structures and compositions. Our results support the formation of multicenter bonding in a material with unusual stoichiometry. These results are applicable to the design of new energetic solids and high-temperature superconductors based on hydrogen-rich materials.

Three different sodium-silicon clathrate compounds–Na8Si46 (sI), Na24Si136 (sII), and a new structure, NaSi6–were obtained for the first time using high-pressure techniques. Experimental and theoretical results unambiguously indicate that Na-intercalated clathrates are only thermodynamically stable under high-pressure conditions. The sI clathrate can be synthesized directly from the elements at pressures from 2 to 6 GPa in the 900–1100 K range. Over the range of conditions studied, sII clathrate only forms as an intermediate compound prior to the crystallization of sI. At higher pressures, we observed the formation of a new intercalated compound, metallic NaSi6, which crystallizes in the orthorhombic Eu4Ga8Ge16 structure. High-pressure crystallization from Na-Si melts provides significant improvements in the electrical properties of bulk clathrate materials (residual resistance ratio RRR = 24 for sI and > 13 for NaSi6), compared to the typical characteristics achieved for single crystals obtained by conventional routes (RRR < 6). Since the Na-Si clathrates are stable only above 2 GPa, previous reports of their synthesis may be viewed as nonequilibrium, precursor-based routes to high-pressure phases at low-pressure conditions.

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