Pavel A. Korzhavyi

Screened Coulomb interactions in metallic alloys. II. Screening beyond the single-site and atomic-sphere approximations

A quantitative description of the configurational part of the total energy of metallic alloys with substantial atomic size difference cannot be achieved in the atomic-sphere approximation: It needs to be corrected at least for the multipole-moment interactions in the Madelung part of the one-electron potential and energy. In the case of a random alloy such interactions can be accounted for only by lifting the atomic-sphere and single-site approximations, in order to include the polarization due to local environment effects. Nevertheless, a simple parametrization of the screened Coulomb interactions for the ordinary single-site methods, including the generalized perturbation method, is still possible. We obtained such a parametrization for bulk and surface NiPt alloys, which allows one to obtain quantitatively accurate effective interactions in this system.

Exploring monovalent copper compounds with oxygen and hydrogen

New important applications of copper metal, e.g., in the areas of hydrogen production, fuel cell operation, and spent nuclear fuel disposal, require accurate knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of stable and metastable copper compounds. Among the copper(I) compounds with oxygen and hydrogen, cuprous oxide Cu2O is the only one stable and the best studied. Other such compounds are less known (CuH) or totally unknown (CuOH) due to their instability relative to the oxide. Here we combine quantum-mechanical calculations with experimental studies to search for possible compounds of monovalent copper. Cuprous hydride (CuH) and cuprous hydroxide (CuOH) are proved to exist in solid form. We establish the chemical and physical properties of these compounds, thereby filling the existing gaps in our understanding of hydrogen- and oxygen-related phenomena in Cu metal.

Cuprous hydroxide in a solid form: does it exist?

Experimental studies have been performed to obtain the unknown cuprous hydroxide compound, which has recently been predicted theoretically (P. A. Korzhavyi et. al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2012, 109, 686-689) to be metastable in a solid form. The reduction of Cu(2+) with ferrous ethylenediamine tetraacetate (EDTA) results in the formation of a yellow powder precipitate whose composition corresponds to CuOH × H2O as probed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and cryogenic X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). A similar compound has been found on the surface of Cu-CuH powder stored in water, as detected by XPS. The reduction of Cu(2+) to Cu(+) with free radicals in aqueous solutions results in a Cu2O precipitate as the final product, while the formation of the yellow cuprous hydroxide colloids may be an intermediate step. Our studies reveal that cuprous hydroxide does exist in a solid form and most likely has a hydrated form, CuOH × H2O.

Ab initio calculations of elastic properties of Ru1-xNixAl superalloys

Ab initio total energy calculations based on the exact muffin-tin orbitals method, combined with the coherent potential approximation, have been used to study the thermodynamical and elastic proper ...

Stacking fault energy and magnetism in austenitic stainless steels

The stacking fault energies are used to illustrate the footprint of magnetism on the mechanical properties of Fe-Cr-Ni alloys forming the basis of austenitic stainless steels. We find that the usua ...

Effect of magnetism on the solubility of 3d elements in BCC iron: Results of first-principle investigations

The methods of quantum-mechanical simulation have been used to study alloys of bcc iron with 3d transition metals in the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states. It has been shown that the main factor that determines the solubility of the 3d elements is their electronic structure. The energy of the solution, mixing, and effective interatomic interactions vary regularly depending on the position of the element in the Periodic Table and on the magnetic state of the matrix. In some cases, depending on the magnetic state, changes in these quantities lead to the violation of the Hume-Rothery rules that determine the solubility of substitutional elements in alloys. The results obtained help us to understand the microscopic mechanisms that determine the solubility of alloying elements and their effect on the phase stability and structural state of steels.

Electronic structure and magnetism of diluted magnetic semiconductors

The electronic structure and magnetism of selected diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) is reviewed. It is argued that the effect of antisite defects plays an important role in the magnetism of DMS materials and that these defects lower the saturation moment and ordering temperature. We also show that the interatomic exchange of these materials is short ranged. By combining first principles calculations of interatomic exchange interactions with a classical Heisenberg model and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the observed critical temperatures of a broad range of diluted magnetic semiconductors, involving Mn-doped GaAs and GaN as well as Cr-doped ZnTe, are reproduced with good accuracy. We show that agreement between theory and experiment is obtained only when the magnetic atoms are randomly positioned on the Ga (or Zn) sites. This suggests that the ordering of DMS materials is heavily influenced by magnetic percolation and that the measured critical temperatures should be very sensitive to details in the sample preparation, in agreement with observations.

Electronic structure and magnetic properties of RNi5−xCux alloys (R=Y, La, Ce)

A study is made of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of RN5−xCux alloys (R=Y, La, Ce). The influence of substitution of nickel by copper on the features of the band structure and behavior of the magnetic susceptibility of these alloys is investigated. An analysis is made of the electronic states and interactions responsible for the magnetic properties of RNi5−xCux alloys.

Bond Network Topology and Antiferroelectric Order in Cuprice CuOH

Using density functional theory (DFT) and a graph theory based approach, we investigated the topology of bond network in CuOH(s) (cuprice) considering only symmetry-distinct structures. In parallel, we conducted the synthesis and X-ray diffraction characterization of the compound and used the combined theoretical-experimental effort to validate the lowest energy structure obtained with DFT. The ground-state structure of CuOH(s) consists of compact trilayers of CuOH connected to each other via hydrogen bonds, where the inner layer of each trilayer is composed entirely of Cu atoms. Each trilayer is a dense fabric made of two interlocked arrays of polymer [CuOH]n chains. This structure corresponds to an antiferroelectric configuration where the dipole moments of CuOH molecules belonging to adjacent arrays are antiparallel and are arranged in the same way as the water molecules in ice-VIII. It is shown that a collective electrostatic interaction is the main driving force for the cation ordering while the local atomic configuration is maintained. These findings and the possibility of synthesizing exfoliated two-dimensional cuprice are important for some technological applications.

Thermodynamics of Stable and Metastable Cu-O-H Compounds

We apply density functional perturbation theory together with experimental studies in order to investigate the structure and physical properties of possible stable and metastable copper(I) compounds with oxygen and hydrogen. Copper(I) hydride, CuH, is found to be a metastable phase which decomposes at ambient conditions and exhibiting a semiconducting gap in the electronic spectrum. The calculated structure and phonon spectra are found to be in good agreement with experimental data. The phonon spectra of a novel metastable phase, copper(I) hydroxide, are also determined.