Decomposition and Terapascal Phases of Water Ice

Computational searches for stable and metastable structures of water ice and other H:O compositions at TPa pressures have led us to predict that H2O decomposes into H2O2 and a hydrogen-rich phase at pressures of a little over 5 TPa. The hydrogen-rich phase is stable over a wide range of hydrogen contents, and it might play a role in the erosion of the icy component of the cores of gas giants as H2O comes into contact with hydrogen. Metallization of H2O is predicted at a higher pressure of just over 6 TPa, and therefore H2O does not have a thermodynamically stable low-temperature metallic form. We have also found a new and rich mineralogy of complicated water ice phases that are more stable in the pressure range 0.8-2 TPa than any predicted previously.