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Science 5 July 1996:
Vol. 273. no. 5271, pp. 95 - 97
DOI: 10.1126/science.273.5271.95
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Reports

Transition Element-Like Chemistry for Potassium Under Pressure

L. J. Parker, T. Atou, J. V. Badding *

At high pressure the alkali metals potassium, rubidium, and cesium transform to metals that have a d1 electron configuration, becoming transition metal-like. As a result, compounds were shown to form between potassium and the transition metal nickel. These results demonstrate that the chemical behavior of the alkali metals under pressure is very different from that under ambient conditions, where alkali metals and transition metals do not react because of large differences in size and electronic structure. They also have significant implications for the hypothesis that potassium is incorporated into Earth's core.

Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From the Cover: Substitutional alloy of Ce and Al.
Q.-S. Zeng, Y. Ding, W. L. Mao, W. Luo, A. Blomqvist, R. Ahuja, W. Yang, J. Shu, S. V. Sinogeikin, Y. Meng, et al. (2009)
PNAS 106, 2515-2518
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Earth's Core and the Geodynamo.
B. A. Buffett (2000)
Science 288, 2007-2012
   Abstract »    Full Text »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)