First-principles study of electronic structure of transition metal nitride: ReN under normal and high pressure

First-principles calculation was performed using tight-binding LMTO method with local density approximation (LDA) and atomic sphere approximation (ASA) to understand the electronic properties of rhenium nitride. The equilibrium geometries, the electronic band structure, the total and partial DOS are obtained under various pressures and are analyzed in comparison with the available experimental data. The most stable structure of ReN is NiAs like structure. Our results indicate that ReN can be used as a super-hard conductor. We estimated the average electron-phonon coupling constant to be 1.65 and superconducting transition temperature (T_c) is 5.1 K. The T_c value increases with the increase in pressure.     

Identification of a novel series of alkylitaconic acids in wood cultures of Ceriporiopsis subvermispora by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

A novel series of long-chain unsaturated dicarboxylic acids consisting of a long aliphatic chain attached to the C-3 position of itaconic acid has been identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry during in vitro decay of eucalypt wood by the white-rot basidiomycete Ceriporiopsis subvermispora. The major compounds were identified as tetradecyl-, 7-hexadecenyl- and hexadecylitaconic acids by their mass fragmentation patterns. Other members of the same compound series, identified as dodecanyl-, tridecanyl-, tetradecenyl-, pentadecanyl-, octadecenyl- and octadecanylitaconic acids, were present in very minor amounts or traces. Whereas hexadecenylitaconic acid has already been reported in cultures of C. subvermispora, to our knowledge this is the first report of the presence of the other alkylitaconic acids in fungal cultures. These new alkylitaconic-type metabolites may constitute a source for peroxidizable lipids involved in lignin degradation during wood decay by C. subvermispora and other white-rot basidiomycetes.     

Investigation of structural stability and electronic properties of group III nitrides: a first principles study

The high-pressure structural phase transition, electronic, superconducting and elastic properties of group III nitrides (ScN, YN and LaN) are investigated by first principles calculation with the density functional theory. The calculated lattice parameters are in good agreement with the experimental and other theoretical values. Electronic structure reveals that these materials are semiconductors with an indirect band gap of 1.4, 0.87 and 0.65?eV for ScN, YN and LaN, respectively. The obtained cubic NaCl structure is energetically the most stable structure at ambient pressure. A pressure-induced structural phase transition from NaCl to CsCl structure is predicted. The structural phase transition of ScN, YN and LaN occurs at a pressure of 158, 132 and 26.5?GPa, respectively. On further increase in the pressure, semiconductor-to-metallic transition and superconductivity is observed in these nitrides. The estimated T _c values as a function of pressure for ScN, YN and LaN are 31.79, 15.50 and 12.84?K, respectively.     

First principles study of pressure-induced magnetic transition in CrN

First principles calculation was performed using tight-binding LMTO method with local density approximation (LDA) and atomic sphere approximation (ASA) to understand the electronic properties of chromium nitride. The equilibrium geometries, the magnetic moment, the electronic band structure, the total and partial DOS are obtained under various pressures and are analyzed in comparison with the available experimental data. The most stable structure of CrN is NaCl structure in the FM state. A pressure-induced second order magnetic phase transition from ferromagnetic (FM) to non-magnetic (NM) at very high pressure of 0.5549 Mbar is predicted. Our results indicate that CrN can be used as a hydrogen storage material.     

Quenching of giant hysteresis effects in La(1-z)Y(z)Hx switchable mirrors

Hydrogen atoms adsorbed on TiO2(110)-(1x1) surfaces have been characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) combined with electron stimulated desorption (ESD) technique. Certain amounts of H atoms are unexpectedly found on the TiO2 surfaces annealed at 900 K. Two forms of adsorption were discriminated in STM images from the different sensitivity to ESD and tentatively assigned to hydroxyl-type (O-H) and hydride-type (Ti-H) species.