Breaking the H2 chemical bond in a crystalline environment

Abstract

Through density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations, we have analysed various metal polyhydrides to understand whether hydrogen is present in its molecular or atomic form - tetrahydrides of Ba,Sr,Ra, Cs and La; Ba$_8$H$_{46}$ and BaH$_{12}$. We show that, in experimentally reported binary barium hydrides (BaH$_x$), molecular H$_2$ and atomic H$^-$ can coexist with the metallic cations. In this thorough study of differences between BaH$_4$, higher barium hydrides, and other binary tetrahydrides we find the number of atomic hydrogens is equal to the formal charge of the cations. The remaining hydrogen forms molecules in proportions yielding, e.g. BaH$_2$(H$_2)_x$, at pressures as high as 200 GPa. At room temperature these are highly dynamic structures with the hydrogens switching between H$^-$ and H$_2$ while retaining the 2:x ratio. We find some qualitative differences between our static DFT calculations and previously reported structural and spectroscopic experimental results. Two factors allow us to resolve such discrepancies: Firstly, in static relaxation H$_2$ must be regarded as a non-spherical object, which breaks symmetry in a way invisible to X-rays; Secondly the required number of molecules $x$ may be incompatible with the experimental space group (e.g. $BaH_2(H_2)_5$). In molecular dynamics, bond-breaking transitions between various structural symmetry configurations happen on a picosecond timescale via an H$_3^-$ intermediate. Rebonding is slow enough to allow a spectroscopic signal but frequent enough to average out over the lengthscale involved in diffraction.