Metallization pressure

Metallization pressure is the pressure required for a non-metallic chemical element to become a metal. Every material is predicted to turn into a metal if the pressure is high enough, and temperature low enough. Some of these pressures are beyond the reach of diamond anvil cells, and are thus theoretical predictions. Neon has the highest metallization pressure for any element.

The value for phosphorus refers to pressurizing black phosphorus. The value for arsenic refers to pressurizing metastable black arsenic; grey arsenic, the standard state, is already a metallic conductor at standard conditions. No value is known or theoretically predicted for radon. Astatine is calculated to already be a metal at standard conditions, although its extreme radioactivity means that this has never been tested experimentally.

Z	Element	p, Mbar	ref.	type
1	Hydrogen	3.9		theoretical
2	Helium	329		theoretical
5	Boron	1.6		experimental
6	Carbon	11		theoretical
7	Nitrogen	>> 5		theoretical
8	Oxygen	0.96		experimental
9	Fluorine	25		theoretical
10	Neon	2084		theoretical
14	Silicon	0.12		experimental
15	Phosphorus	0.048		experimental
16	Sulfur	0.83		experimental
17	Chlorine	2.0		experimental
18	Argon	5.1		theoretical
32	Germanium	0.11		experimental
33	Arsenic	0.022		theoretical
34	Selenium	0.23		experimental
35	Bromine	0.25		experimental
36	Krypton	3.1		theoretical
52	Tellurium	0.04		experimental
53	Iodine	0.16		experimental
54	Xenon	1.3		experimental
86	Radon	.	.	.

See also

• Metal–insulator transition
• Metallic hydrogen
• Nonmetallic material