Abstract
K-Cl is a simple system displaying all four main types of bonding, as it contains (i) metallic potassium, (ii) elemental chlorine made of covalently bonded Cl2 molecules held together by van der Waals forces, and (iii) an archetypal ionic compound KCl. The charge balance rule, assigning classical charges of "+1" to K and "-1" to Cl, predicts that no compounds other than KCl are possible. However, our quantum-mechanical variable-composition evolutionary simulations predict an extremely complex phase diagram, with new thermodynamically stable compounds K3Cl, K2Cl, K3Cl2, K4Cl3, K5Cl4, K3Cl5, KCl3 and KCl7. Of particular interest are 2D-metallic homologs Kn+1Cln, the presence of positively charged Cl atoms in KCl7, and the predicted stability of KCl3 already at nearly ambient pressures at zero Kelvin. We have synthesized cubic -KCl3 at 40-70 GPa and trigonal -KCl3 at 20-40 GPa in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell (DAC) at temperature exceeding 2000 K from KCl and Cl2. These phases were identified using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Upon unloading to 10 GPa, -KCl3 transforms to a yet unknown structure before final decomposition to KCl and Cl2 at near-ambient conditions.