Pressure effects on magnetic properties and martensitic transformation of Ni–Mn–Sn magnetic shape memory alloys

The mechanism for the effects of pressure on the magnetic properties and the martensitic transformation of Ni-Mn- Sn shape memory alloys is revealed by first-principles calculations. It is found that the total energy difference between paramagnetic and ferromagnetic austenite states plays an important role in the magnetic transition of Ni-Mn-Sn under pressure. The pressure increases the relative stability of the martensite with respect to the anstenite, leading to an increase of the martensitic transformation temperature. Moreover, the effects of pressure on the magnetic properties and the martensitic transformation are discussed based on the electronic structure.     

Enhancing visible-light photocatalytic activity of α-Bi2O3 via non-metal N and S doping

In recent years, some important research indicated that the visible-light activity of photocatalysts could be enhanced via incorporating p-block non-metal elements into the lattice. In this paper, we investigated the electronic structures of pure and different non-metal （C, N, S, F, Cl, and Br） doped α-Bi2O3 using first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory. The band structures, the electronic densities of states, and the effective masses of electrons and holes for doped α-Bi2O3 were obtained and analyzed. The N and S dopings narrowed the band gap and reduced the effective mass of the carriers, which are beneficial for the photocatalytic performance. The theoretical predication was further confirmed by the experimental results.     

First-principles study on anatase TiO2（101） surface adsorption of NO

In this paper, the stable structure and the electronic and optical properties of nitric oxide （NO） adsorption on the anatase TiO2 （101） surface are studied using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential method, which is based on the density functional theory. NO adsorption on the surface is weak when the outermost layer terminates on twofold coordinated oxygen atoms, but it is remarkably enhanced on the surface containing O vacancy defects. The higher the concentration of oxygen vacancy defects, the stronger the adsorption is. The adsorption energies are 3.4528 eV （N end adsorption）, 2.6770 eV （O end adsorption）, and 4.1437 eV （horizontal adsorption）. The adsorption process is exothermic, resulting in a more stable adsorption structure. Furthermore, O vacancy defects on the TiO2 （101） surface significantly contribute to the absorption of visible light in a relatively low-energy region. A new absorption peak in the low-energy region, corresponding to an energy of 0.9 eV, is observed. However, the TiO2 （101） surface structure exhibits weak absorption in the low-energy region of visible light after NO adsorption.     

Electronic structures and energy band properties of Be- and S-doped wurtzite ZnO

The energy band properties, density of states, and band alignment of the BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy （Be- and S-doped wurtzite ZnO） are investigated by the first-principles method. BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy is a direct band gap semiconductor, the valence band maximum （VBM） and the conduction band minimum （CBM） of BexZn1-xO1-ySy are dominated by S 3p and Zn 4s states, respectively. The band gap and lattice constant of BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy can be modulated by changing the doped content values x and y. With the increase in Be content value x in the BexZnl-xOl-ySy alloy, the band gap increases and the lattice constant reduces, but the situation is just the opposite when increasing the S content value y in the BexZn1-xO1-ySy alloy. Because the lattice constant of Be0.375Zn0.625O0.75S0.25 alloy is well matched with that of ZnO and its energy gap is large compared with that of ZnO, so the Be0.375Zn0.625O0.75S0.25 alloy is suitable for serving as the blocking material for a high-quality ZnO-based device.     

Segregation of alloying atoms at a tilt symmetric grain boundary in tungsten and their strengthening and embrittling effects

We investigate the segregation behavior of alloying atoms （Sr, Th, In, Cd, Ag, Sc, Au, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cr, and Ti） near Z3 （ 111 ） [1]-0] tilt symmetric grain boundary （GB） in tungsten and their effects on the intergranular embrittlement by performing first-principles calculations. The calculated segregation energies suggest that Ag, Au, Cd, In, Sc, Sr, Th, and Ti prefer to occupy the site in the mirror plane of the GB, while Cu, Cr, Mn, and Zn intend to locate at the first layer nearby the GB core. The calculated strengthening energies predict Sr, Th, In, Cd, Ag, Sc, Au, Ti, and Zn act as embrittlers while Cu, Cr, and Mn act as cohesion enhancers. The correlation of the alloying atom＇s metal radius with strengthening energy is strong enough to predict the strengthening and embrittling behavior of alloying atoms; that is, the alloying atom with larger metal radius than W acts as an embrittler and the one with smaller metal radius acts as a cohesion enhancer.     

Fractional cyclic integrals and Routh equations of fractional Lagrange system with combined Caputo derivatives

In this paper, we develop a fractional cyclic integral and a Routh equation for fractional Lagrange system defined in terms of fractional Caputo derivatives. The fractional Hamilton principle and the fractional Lagrange equations of the system are obtained under a combined Caputo derivative. Furthermore, the fractional cyclic integrals based on the Lagrange equations are studied and the associated Routh equations of the system are presented. Finally, two examples are given to show the applications of the results.     

Mechanical and thermodynamic properties of the monoclinic and orthorhombic phases of SiC_2N_4 under high pressure from first principles

First principles calculations are preformed to systematically investigate the electronic structures, elastic and thermodynamic properties of the monoclinic and orthorhombic phases of Si C2N4 under pressure. The calculated structural parameters and elastic moduli are in good agreement with the available theoretical values at zero pressure. The elastic constants of the two phases under pressure are calculated by stress–strain method. It is found that both phases satisfy the mechanical stability criteria within 60 GPa. With the increase of pressure, the degree of the anisotropy decreases rapidly in the monoclinic phase, whereas it remains almost constant in the orthorhombic phase. Furthermore, using the hybrid density-functional theory, the monoclinic and orthorhombic phases are found to be wide band-gap semiconductors with band gaps of about 2.85 e V and 3.21 e V, respectively. The elastic moduli, ductile or brittle behaviors, compressional and shear wave velocities as well as Debye temperatures as a function of pressure in both phases are also investigated in detail.     

Theoretical Study on Equation of State of Porous Mo and Sn

We present a first-principles scheme to investigate the equation of state （EOS） of porous materials, based on our recently developed modified mean-field potential approach. By taking the effect of the structural parameters on the free energy into account, we calculate the total energy of materials with initial different densities and then study the EOS of porous Mo and Sn as a prototype. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data available, which demonstrates that our scheme is suitable for investigating EOS of porous materials over a wide r~nge of porosities and pressures.     

Optoelectronic Properties,Elastic Moduli and Thermoelectricity of SrAlGa： An Ab Initio Study

Half-Heusler compounds are an impressive class of materials with a huge potential for different applications such as in future energy, especially in the fields of thermoelectrics and solar cells. We present ab fnitio total energy calculations within the modified Becke-Johnson generalized gradient approximation （mBJ-GGA） to obtain the physical properties of SrAlGa compounds. The structural, elastic, acoustic, electronic, chemical bonding, optical, and thermoelectric properties are calculated and compared with the available calculation data. The SrAlGa is found to be a small-band-gap （0.125-0.175 eV） material, suitable for thermoelectric applications with a relatively high Seebeck coefficient. Also, SrAIGa has the potential in the optoelectronic applications due to high optical conductivity and reflectivity in the infrared and visible region of electromagnetic spectra.     

Elastic and Dynamical Properties of YB4： First-Principles Study

We present the elastic and dynamical properties of YB4 from first-principles calculations. It is found that the optimized lattice constants and bulk modulus （182 GPa） agree well with the experimental data. The structural stability of tetragonal YB4 is confirmed by the calculated elastic constants and phonon spectra. YB4 holds a Debye temperature of 874 K and has small elastic anisotropy. The estimated hardness of YB4 is about 17 GPa, indicating that YB4 is a hard solid while not a superhard one.