Na-Au intermetallic compounds formed under high pressure at room temperature

Abstract

High-pressure powder x-ray diffraction experiments have revealed that sodium and gold react at room temperature and form new Na-Au intermetallic compounds under high pressure. We have identified four intermetallic phases up to 60 GPa. The first phase (phase I) is the known Na2Au with the tetragonal CuAl2-type structure. It changed to the second phase (phase II) at about 0.8 GPa, which has the composition Na3Au with the trigonal Cu3As-type or hexagonal Cu3P-type structure. Phase II further transformed to phase III at 3.6 GPa. Phase III has the same composition Na3Au with the cubic BiF3-type structure. Finally, phase III changed to phase IV at around 54 GPa. Phase IV gives broad diffraction peaks, indicating large structural disorder.