Photochemistry within Compressed Sodium Azide

Synthesis of high nitrogen containing materials has been the subject of research interest for use as alternative clean sources of fuel and explosives. Here we present experimental evidence for the photochemical synthesis of new energetic materials from sodium azide (NaN3) at 4.88.1 GPa. We show that excitation into the conduction band generates color centers within the compressed alpha-NaN3 phase lattice with minimal or no molecular N-2 evolution. Photochemical changes to the sample were monitored by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) absorption, and Raman spectroscopy. These high pressure products were found to be stable upon decompression at 300 K down to 1.6 GPa, although it is suspected that the material can be recoverable to ambient pressure with cold decompression.