An Orthorhombic Phase of Superhard o-BC_4N

A potential superhard o-BC_4 N with Imm2 space group is identified by ab initio evolutionary methodology using CALYPSO code. The structural, electronic and mechanical properties of o-BC_4N are investigated. The elastic calculations indicate that o-BC_4N is mechanically stable. The phonon dispersions imply that this phase is dynamically stable under ambient conditions. The structure of o-BC_4N is more energetically favorable than o-BC_4N above the pressure of 25.1 GPa. Here o-BC_4N is a semiconductor with an indirect band gap of about 3.95 eV, and the structure is highly incompressible with a bulk modulus of 396.3 GPa and shear modulus of 456.0 GPa. The mechanical failure mode of o-BC_4N is dominated by the shear type. The calculated peak stress of 58.5 GPa in the(100)[001] shear direction sets an upper bound for its ideal strength. The Vickers hardness of o-BC_4N reaches 78.7 GPa, which is greater than that of t-BC_4N and bc-BC_4N proposed recently, confirming that o-BC_4N is a potential superhard material.     

A novel superhard boron nitride polymorph with monoclinic symmetry

In this work, a new superhard material named Pm BN is proposed. The structural properties, stability, mechanical properties, mechanical anisotropy properties, and electronic properties of Pm BN are studied in this work. Pm BN is dynamically and mechanically stable, the relative enthalpy of Pm BN is greater than that of c-BN, and in this respect, and it is more favorable than that of T-B₃N₃, T-B₇N₇, tP24 BN, Imm2 BN, NiAs BN, and rocksalt BN. The Young's modulus, bulk modulus, and shear modulus of Pm BN are 327 GPa, 331 GPa, and 738 GPa, respectively, and according to Chen's model, Pm BN is a novel superhard material. Compared with its original structure, the mechanical anisotropy of Young's modulus of Pm BN is larger than that of C14 carbon. Finally, the calculations of the electronic energy band structure show that Pm BN is a semiconductor material with not only a wide band gap but also an indirect band gap.     

Structural,mechanical, and electronic properties of P21/m-Carbon✰

The structural, mechanical, and electronic properties of P2₁/m-carbon were comprehensively investigated by using first principles calculations. Our calculated structure parameters are in good agreement with the previous theoretical values. P2₁/m-carbon consists of 10 atoms in a unit cell and is made of an exclusively sp³ hybridized bonding network. The calculated phonon spectra and elastic constant verify that P2₁/m-carbon is dynamically and mechanically stable at ambient pressure. The analysis of the electronic band structure reveals that P2₁/m-carbon is an insulator with a band gap of 5.47 eV. It has a large bulk moduli of 398 GPa and a high shear moduli of 457 GPa. Further mechanical properties demonstrate that P2₁/m-carbon is prone to be ductile and possesses a high Vickers hardness value of 82.3 GPa. These values show that P2₁/m-carbon simultaneously possesses ultra-incompressible and the superhard property. Furthermore, the X-ray diffraction spectra is also theoretically simulated to provide more structure information for future experimental observations.     

A new carbon allotrope with C28 cage: T-C64

A new tetragonal carbon allotrope (named T-C₆₄) is predicted by swarm structural searches combined with first principles calculation. It contains 64 carbon atoms in a Tetragonal unit cell with I4₁/amd symmetry and exhibits distinct topologies including C28 cages. This new carbon phase has an sp²-sp³ network with calculated hardness of 68.2 GPa. In order to examine the stability of T-C₆₄ under ambient pressure, we calculated the properties of elastic constant and phonon spectrum. In addition, by calculating the electronic properties of the crystal, it is concluded that T-C₆₄ is an indirect band gap semiconductor with a band gap of 2.23 eV.     

High-throughput calculations screening for new direct band gap superhard carbon allotropes

High-throughput first principles calculations for 109 carbon allotropes were performed. The elastic constants and phonon calculations suggest that these new structures are mechanically and dynamically stable at ambient pressure. Seven direct band gap semiconductor carbon allotropes were uncovered. The Vickers hardness of all seven structures exceeds 40 GPa, indicating that these allotropes are potential superhard materials.     

Structural and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes under hydrostatic pressures

We studied the structural and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes under hydrostatic pressures based on molecular dynamics simulations and first principles band structure calculations. It is found that carbon nanotubes experience a hard-to-soft transition as external pressure increases. The bulk modulus of soft phase is two orders of magnitude smaller than that of hard phase. The band structure calculations show that band gap of (10, 0) nanotube increases with the increase of pressure at low pressures. Above a critical pressure (5.70GPa), band gap of (10, 0) nanotube drops rapidly and becomes zero at 6.62GPa. Moreover, the calculated charge density shows that a large pressure can induce an {sp}²-to-{sp}³ bonding transition, which is confirmed by recent experiments on deformed carbon nanotubes.     

Low-temperature phase transformation from nanotube to sp~3 superhard carbon phase

Numerous new carbon allotropes have been uncovered by compressing carbon nanotubes based on our computational investigation.The volume compression calculations suggest that these new phases have a very high anti-compressibility with a large bulk modulus(B0).The predicted B0 of new phases is larger than that of c-BN(373 GPa) and smaller than that of diamond(453 GPa).All of the predicted structures are superhard transparent materials with a larger band gap and possess the covalent characteristics with sp3-hybridized electronic states.The simulated results will help us better understand the structural phase transition of cold-compressed carbon nanotubes.     

Electronic structure and elastic moduli of the simple cubic fullerite C24—A new allotropic carbon modification

The energy band structure, equation of state, density of states, and elastic moduli of a new allotropic carbon modification, namely, fullerite C₂₄ with a simple cubic lattice (known previously as cubic graphite), are calculated by the full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave (FLAPW) method with geometry optimization for the first time. The dependence of the total energy on the lattice constant exhibits a minimum for a ₀ = 0.60546 nm. In this case, the lengths of the C-C bonds between fullerene molecules, the lengths of the 6,6-bonds shared by hexagons, and the lengths of the 4,6-bonds shared by a square and a hexagon are equal to 0.1614, 0.1503, and 0.1637 nm, respectively. An analysis of the energy band structure and the density of states demonstrates that the simple cubic fullerite C₂₄ is a direct-band-gap insulator or a semiconductor with a band gap of 1.6 eV. The calculated bulk modulus B ₀ = 196 GPa and the elastic moduli C ₁₁ = 338 GPa, C ₁₂ = 139 GPa, and C ₄₄ = 30 GPa indicate that the fullerite under investigation is a mechanically stable material. The inference is made that the simple cubic fullerite C₂₄ is a new diamond-like molecular zeolite with a unique combination of properties, such as the porosity and nonpolarizability, on the one hand, and the mechanical strength, chemical inertness, and high thermal conductivity, on the other hand. The simple cubic fullerite C₂₄ can be considered a promising low-dielectric-constant (low-k) material (?₀ < 5.7) for use in fabricating interconnections and substrates intended for integrated circuits and nanoelectronics.     

o-C8碳：新的超硬碳同素异形体

通过粒子群优化算法和密度泛函计算,证明了空间群为PMMA的正交晶系的碳同素异形体o-C₈是稳定的超硬相. 声子谱计算表明,o-C₈碳相是动力学稳定的;体积压缩计算表明,它是体模量为298.6 GPa的高度不可压缩材料. o-C₈相是一种新型的密度为2.993 g/cm³、维氏硬度为67.0 GPa的低密度超硬材料.     

Deformation‐induced bonding evolution of iron tetraboride and its electronic origin

First‐principles density functional calculations are employed to provide a fundamental understanding of the structural features, mechanical properties, deformation behaviours and its electronic origin for the new synthesized FeB₄. The calculated elastic moduli suggest that FeB₄ has a low compressibility, but results of ideal shear strength and theoretical hardness indicate that FeB₄ is a hard material, not a superhard material. We find that the collapse of the unique corrugated B₆ units ring in FeB₄ under deformation is responsible for the failure under tensile and shear deformation based on the calculated charge density distribution and bonding evolution. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Superhard F-carbon predicted by ab initio particle-swarm optimization methodology

A simple (5 + 6 + 7)-sp(3) carbon (denoted as F-carbon) with eight atoms per unit cell predicted by a newly developed ab initio particle-swarm optimization methodology on crystal structure prediction is proposed. F-carbon can be seen as the reconstruction of AA-stacked or 3R-graphite, and is energetically more stable than 2H-graphite beyond 13.9 GPa. Band structure and hardness calculations indicate that F-carbon is a transparent superhard carbon with a gap of 4.55 eV at 15 GPa and a hardness of 93.9 GPa at zero pressure. Compared with the previously proposed Bct-, M- and W-carbons, the simulative x-ray diffraction pattern of F-carbon also well matches the superhard intermediate phase of the experimentally cold-compressed graphite. The possible transition route and energy barrier were observed using the variable cell nudged elastic band method. Our simulations show that the cold compression of graphite can produce some reversible metastable carbons (e.g. M- and F-carbons) with energy barriers close to diamond or lonsdaleite.     

Investigation of tetragonal ReN2 and WN2 with high shear moduli from first-principles calculations

Two new transition metal dinitrides, ReN₂ and WN₂, with the P4/mmm structure are investigated by the first-principles calculations. The computed shear moduli of 327 GPa for ReN₂ and 334 GPa for WN₂ exceed those of all transition metal dinitrides previously reported. The estimated theoretical hardness are 46.3 GPa for ReN₂ and 47.9 GPa for WN₂, respectively. The calculated high shear moduli and hardness indicate that they are potential ultrahard materials. It is important to note that the computed hardness of the weakest bond are 34.7 GPa (W-N) for WN₂ and 33.1 GPa (Re-N) for ReN₂, much higher than that of 21.1 GPa (Re-B) for ReB₂, which suggests that tetragonal ReN₂ and WN₂ are probably harder than ReB₂. The total and partial electron density of states and the electron localization function for ReN₂ and WN₂ are analyzed. We attribute the high bulk modulus, shear modulus, and hardness to a three-dimensional covalently bonded framework in tetragonal ReN₂ and WN₂. Our calculations show that tetragonal ReN₂ is expected to be synthesized above 62.7 GPa and tetragonal WN₂ may be hard to be synthesized.     

Superdense tI12 carbon: Unexpectedly high elastic moduli but low ideal strength

The basic physical and chemical properties of new carbon allotropies are important to explore their further technique and industrial applications. Here, a systematic theoretical investigation on the electronic, dynamical, and elastic properties for the superdense carbon (tI12) are performed, especially the ideal tensile and shear strength and the corresponding bond-breaking modes are explored to uncover its intrinsic mechanical nature and the corresponding bond-breaking modes. Our results show that the bulk, shear and Young's modulus of tI12 carbon are ultrahigh, close to those of diamond, reflecting its excellent performance of the substance's resistance to be deformed elastically at small strains. However, the calculated tensile and pure shear strengthes are remarkably lower than that of diamond, which is attributed to its original structural anisotropy by analyzing the atomic structural deformation under different strains. The current results highlighted the need to carefully examine the stress response at large strains, which provide crucial insights for the bond-breaking modes and deformation mechanisms that may lead to conclusions different from those obtained from equilibrium structures.     

Mechanical properties and hardness of new carbon-rich superhard C11N4 from first-principles investigations

The structural, mechanical properties and hardness of the new carbon-rich material C₁₁N₄ are studied by first-principles total energy calculations based on the density-functional theory. We use the empirical equations of state (EOS) to investigate the lattice properties and bulk modulus. It is found that the calculated lattice constants and bulk modulus are in good agreement with previous calculations. And the full set elastic constants are calculated using the stress-strain method. The Voigt-Reuss-Hill approximation is used to evaluate the mechanical moduli. The elastic constants show that the two phases of C₁₁N₄ are mechanically stable. The tetragonal-C₁₁N₄ (α-C₁₁N₄) exhibits larger mechanical moduli than the orthorhombic-C₁₁N₄ (β-C₁₁N₄). The mechanical anisotropy is calculated of several different anisotropic indexes and factors, such as universal anisotropic index (A^U), the percent anisotropy (A_G and A_B) and shear anisotropic factors (A₁, A₂ and A₃). Furthermore, the hardness of α-C₁₁N₄ and β-C₁₁N₄ are evaluated according to the intrinsic hardness calculation theory. α-C₁₁N₄ is predicted to be a superhard material with the Vickers hardness of 67.17 GPa, which is slightly higher than that of the cubic boron nitride. And the β-C₁₁N₄ is also a superhard material with the calculated Vickers hardness of 45.63 GPa. C₁₁N₄ can be considered as candidate superhard compounds.     

LiB6Si: An indirect band gap semiconductor

Using first-principle calculations, mechanical properties, electronic structure, and Raman spectra of LiB₆Si structure were investigated. The band structures calculated by GGA-PBE and HSE06 methods reveal that LiB₆Si is an indirect band gap semiconductor. The band gap estimated by HSE06 method is about 2.24 eV, which is in good agreement with that of experimental value 2.27 eV. The calculated tensile stress-strain curves of LiB₆Si reveal that [010] direction is the cleavage direction under tensile strains. The calculated Raman spectra of LiB₆Si are also in good agreement with that of measured. The position of the band gap may provide a basis for further photocatalysis research on LiB₆Si.     

Achievement of ultimate values of the bulk and shear strengths of iron irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses

Shock-wave phenomena generated by femtosecond laser pulses in submicron iron film samples have been studied by the interferometric method with the application of frequency-modulated diagnostics in the picosecond time range. The splitting of the shock wave into the elastic and plastic waves with a compression stress of up to 27.5 GPa behind the front of an elastic precursor has been detected. The corresponding maximum shear stress reaches 7.9 GPa, which is even somewhat higher than the calculated ideal shear strength. The measured spall strengths reach 20.3 GPa, which is also comparable to the calculated values of the ideal tensile strength.     

Strength and equation of state of molybdenum triboride under 80 GPa pressure,using radial X-ray diffraction

The strength and equation of state of molybdenum triboride have been determined under nonhydrostatic compression up to 80?GPa, using an angle-dispersive radial X-ray diffraction technique in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). The RXD data yield a bulk modulus and its pressure derivative as K_0?=?342(6)?GPa with K₀′?=?2.11(17) at ψ?=?54.7°. Analysis of diffraction data using the strain theory indicates that the ratio of differential stress to shear modulus (t/G) ranges from 0.002 to 0.050 at pressures of 4–80?GPa. Together with theoretical results on the high pressure shear modulus, our results here show that molybdenum triboride sample under uniaxial compression can support a differential stress of ～10?GPa when it started to yield with plastic deformation at ～30?GPa. In addition, we draw a conclusion that MoB₃ is not a superhard material but a hard material.     

Strain-induced metal to semiconductor transition in ultra-small diameter single-wall carbon nanotubes

Under a large tensile strain near fracture limit, the band structures of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with diameter less than 0.5 nm begin a metal to semiconductor transition and these ultra-small SWCNTs can normally maintain their metallicities. The band gap behavior of these SWCNTs intrinsically originates from the long axial direct bond lengths and the severe curvature. The gap opening comes mainly from the transfer of pπ electrons. And the localized π and σ states can result in a lower electrical conductivity. This band gap behavior suggests that it has potential to find applications in nano-electromechanical system.     

单壁碳纳米管力学行为的数字散斑相关法实验研究

通过直接单向拉伸超长单壁碳纳米管束长绳,首次借助高精度数字散斑相关法,并结合显维放大技术,测量了单壁碳纳米管的弹性模量和拉伸强度。试验中观察了单壁碳纳米管束长绳的断裂过程。单壁碳纳米管束长绳通过改进的化学气相沉积技术生成。试验得到单壁碳纳米管的平均杨氏模量为129.0±70.3GPa,平均拉伸强度为1.95±0.56GPa,低于计算值和先前其它文献的试验值。