# Amorphous carbonia

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**Amorphous carbonia**, also called **a-carbonia** or **a-CO2**, is an exotic [amorphous](/source/Amorphous) solid form of [carbon dioxide](/source/Carbon_dioxide) that is analogous to amorphous [silica glass](/source/Silica_glass). It was first made in the laboratory in 2006 by subjecting [dry ice](/source/Dry_ice) to high pressures (40-48 [gigapascal](/source/Gigapascal), or 400,000 to 480,000 [atmospheres](/source/Atmosphere)), in a [diamond anvil cell](/source/Diamond_anvil_cell).[1] Amorphous carbonia is not stable at ordinary pressures—it quickly reverts to normal CO2.[2]

While normally carbon dioxide forms [molecular crystals](/source/Molecular_crystal), where individual molecules are bound by [Van der Waals forces](/source/Van_der_Waals_force), in amorphous carbonia a [covalently bound](/source/Covalent_bond) three-dimensional network of atoms is formed, in a structure analogous to [silicon dioxide](/source/Silicon_dioxide) or [germanium dioxide](/source/Germanium_dioxide) glass.

Mixtures of a-carbonia and a-[silica](/source/Silica) may be a prospective very hard and stiff glass material stable at room temperature. Such glass may serve as [protective coatings](/source/Protective_coating), e.g. in [microelectronics](/source/Microelectronics).

The discovery has implications for [astrophysics](/source/Astrophysics), as interiors of [massive planets](/source/Gas_giant) may contain amorphous solid carbon dioxide.

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-google_1-0)** Francis, J. (2008). [*Philosophy Of Mathematics*](https://books.google.com/books?id=6UGGgTXUJCEC). Global Vision Publishing House. p. 198. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9788182202672](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9788182202672). Retrieved 11 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Carbon dioxide glass created in the lab"](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9339-carbon-dioxide-glass-created-in-the-lab.html). *www.newscientisttech.com*. 15 June 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2009.

## References

- Paul F. McMillan (2006). ["Solid-state chemistry: A glass of carbon dioxide"](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F441823a). *[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))*. **441** (7095): 823. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006Natur.441..823M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Natur.441..823M). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/441823a](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F441823a). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [16778880](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16778880). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [11948698](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:11948698).

- Mario Santoro; Federico A. Gorelli; Roberto Bini; Giancarlo Ruocco; Sandro Scandolo; Wilson A. Crichton (2006). "Amorphous silica-like carbon dioxide". *[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))* (letter). **441** (7095): 857–60. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006Natur.441..857S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006Natur.441..857S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/nature04879](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature04879). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [16778885](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16778885). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4363092](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4363092).

## External links

- [Dry ice creates toughened glass](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5083222.stm)

- [Physicsweb: Dry ice forms ultrahard glass](http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/10/6/7/1)

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