Saiana Khandarkhaeva, Timofey Fedotenko, Maxim Bykov, Elena Bykova, Stella Chariton, Pavel Sedmak, Konstantin Glazyrin, Vitali Prakapenka, Natalia Dubrovinskaia, Leonid Dubrovinsky
Laser heating of rhenium in a diamond anvil cell to 3000 K at about 200 GPa results in formation of two previously unknown rhenium carbides, hexagonal WC-type structured ReC and orthorhombic TiSi2-type structured ReC2. The Re-C slid solution formed at multimegabar pressure has the carbon content of ca. 20 at%. Unexpectedly long C-C distances (ca. 1.76-1.85 A) in 'graphene-like' carbon nets in the structure of ReC2 cannot be explained by a simple covalent bonding between carbon atoms and suggest that at very high pressures the mechanism of interaction between carbon atoms in inorganic compounds may be different from that considered so far.
By means of first-principles calculations, the structural stability, mechanical properties and electronic structure of the newly synthesized incompressible Re2C, Re2N, Re3N and an analogous compound Re3C have been investigated. Our results agree well with the available experimental and theoretical data. The proposed Re3C is shown to be energetically, mechanically and dynamically stable and also incompressible. Furthermore, it is suggested that the incompressibility of these compounds is originated from the strong covalent bonding character with the hybridization of 5d orbital of Re and the 2p …
Transition metal surfaces catalyse a broad range of thermally-activated reactions involving carbon-containing-species -- from atomic carbon to small hydrocarbons or organic molecules, and polymers. These reactions yield well-separated phases, for instance graphene and the metal surface, or, on the contrary, alloyed phases, such as metal carbides. Here, we investigate carbon phases on a rhenium (0001) surface, where the former kind of phase can transform into the latter. We find that this transformation occurs with increasing annealing time, which is hence not suitable to increase the quality o…
Rhenium diboride is a recently recognized ultra-incompressible superhard material. Here we report the electronic (e), phonon (p), e-p coupling and thermal properties of ReB$_2$ from first-principles density-functional theory (DFT) calculations and neutron scattering measurements. Our calculated elastic constants ($c_{11}$ = 641 GPa, $c_{12}$ = 159 GPa, $c_{13}$ = 128 GPa, $c_{33}$ = 1037 GPa, and $c_{44}$ = 271 GPa), bulk modulus ($B$ $\approx$ 350 GPa) and hardness ($H$ $\approx$ 46 GPa) are in good agreement with the reported experimental data. The calculated phonon density of states (DOS) a…
Here we report the synthesis of metallic, ultraincompressible (bulk modulus $K_{0}$ = 428(10) GPa) and very hard (nanoindentation hardness 36.7(8) GPa) rhenium (V) nitride pernitride Re$_{2}$(N$_{2}$)N$_{2}$. While the empirical chemical formula of the compound, ReN$_{2}$, is the same as for other known transition metals pernitrides, e.g. IrN$_{2}$, PtN$_{2}$, PdN$_{2}$ and OsN$_{2}$, its crystal chemistry is unique. The known pernitrides of transition metals consist of a metal in the oxidation state +IV and pernitride anions N$_{2}^{4-}$. ReN$_{2}$ contains both pernitride N$_{2}^{4-}$ and di…
We have measured the reflectance of rhenium in the visible region to pressures up to 100 GPa in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). By photographing the reflecting surface, we visually show that there are challenges to obtaining accurate values in a DAC for several reasons and propose some useful procedures. We also show that knowledge of the reflectance of rhenium can overcome the problem of absorption of light by diamonds when studying the reflectance of materials at high pressure in a DAC.
The formation of boron carbide under high pressures and from elemental reactants has been studied and optimum parameters have been determined by varying the (P, T, reactants) conditions. To this end, stoichiometric mixtures of commercial beta rhombohedral boron and amorphous glassy carbon have been subjected to temperatures ranging from 1473 K to 2473 K at pressures of 2 GPa, 5 GPa and 13 GPa. Similar syntheses have been repeated for mixtures of beta boron and graphite, and amorphous boron and amorphous carbon at 2 GPa and 5 GPa. The carbon concentration of boron carbide is shown to be affecte…
The melting of silicon carbide has been studied at pressures 5-8 GPa and temperatures up to 3300 K. It has been found that SiC melts congruently, and its melting curve has negative slope of -44 +/- 4 K/GPa.
The pressure dependence of melting temperatures for boron carbide and B4C-carbon eutectic has been studied up to 8 GPa, and it was found that in both cases the melting curves exhibit negative slope (-13\pm6 K/GPa), that is indicative of higher density of the melt as compared to the solid phase.
Hafnium carbides are studied by a systematic search for possible stable stoichiometric compounds in the Hf-C system at ambient pressure using variable-composition ab initio evolutionary algorithm implemented in the USPEX code. In addition to well-known HfC, we predicted two additional compounds Hf3C2 and Hf6C5. The structure of Hf6C5 with space group C2/m contains 11 atoms in the primitive cell and this prediction revives the earlier proposal by A. I. Gusev. The stable structure of Hf3C2 also has space group C2/m, and is more energetically favorable than the Immm, P-3m1, P2 and C2221 structure…
The lithium-carbon binary system possesses a broad range of chemical compounds, which exhibit fascinating chemical bonding characteristics that give rise diverse and technologically important properties. While lithium carbides with various compositions have been studied or suggested previously, the crystal structures of these compounds are far from well understood. In this work we present the first comprehensive survey of all ground state (GS) structures of lithium carbides over a broad range of thermodynamic conditions, using \textit{ab initio} density functional theory (DFT) crystal structur…
High pressure synthesis of rhenium nitride pernitride ReN$_2$ with crystal structure unusual for transition metal dinitrides and high values of hardness and bulk modulus attracted significant attention to this system. We investigate the thermodynamic and electronic properties of the P2$_1$/c phase of ReN$_2$ and compare them with two other polytypes, C2/m and P4/mbm phases suggested in the literature. Our calculations of the formation enthalpy at zero temperature show that the former phase is the most stable of the three up to pressure p=170 GPa, followed by the stabilization of the P4/mbm pha…
The Case Against Hall-Petch Hardening in High Entropy Carbide Ceramics
Missouri University of Science and Technology（密苏里科技大学）；Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；Duke University（杜克大学）；University of California, Irvine（加州大学尔湾分校）
We have investigated by means of high-pressure x-ray diffraction the structural stability of Pd2Mo3N, Ni2Mo3C0.52N0.48, Co3Mo3C0.62N0.38, and Fe3Mo3C. We have found that they remain stable in their ambient-pressure cubic phase at least up to 48 GPa. All of them have a bulk modulus larger than 330 GPa, being the least compressible material Fe3Mo3C, B0 = 374(3) GPa. In addition, apparently a reduction of compressibility is detected as the carbon content increased. The equation of state for each material is determined. A comparison with other refractory materials indicates that interstitial nitri…
Boron carbide is a ceramic material with unique properties widely used in numerous, including armor, applications. Its mechanical properties, mechanism of compression, and limits of stability are of both scientific and practical value. Here, we report the behavior of the stoichiometric boron carbide B13C2 studied on single crystals up to 68 GPa. As revealed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, B13C2 maintains its crystal structure and does not undergo phase transitions. Accurate measurements of the unit cell and B12 icosahedra volumes as a function of pressure led to conclusion that they reduce s…
We report a combined experimental and theoretical study of boron carbide under stress/deformation. A special rotating anvil press, the rotating tomography Paris Edinburgh cell (RotoPEC), has been used to apply torsional deformation to boron carbide under a pressure of 5~GPa at ambient temperature. Subsequent damages and point defects have been analysed at ambient pressure by energy dispersive X-ray microdiffraction at the synchrotron and by Raman spectroscopy, combined with calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT). We show that apart from the signals due to B$_4$C, new peaks a…
The immense interest in carbon nanomaterials continues to stimulate intense research activities aimed to realize carbon nanowires, since linear chains of carbon atoms are expected to display novel and technologically relevant optical, electrical and mechanical properties. Although various allotropes of carbon (e.g., diamond, nanotubes, graphene, etc.) are among the best known materials, it remains challenging to stabilize carbon in the one-dimensional form because of the difficulty to suitably saturate the dangling bonds of carbon. Here, we show through first-principles calculations that order…
It is well known that pressure causes profound changes in the properties of atoms and chemical bonding, leading to the formation of many unusual materials. Here we systematically explore all stable calcium carbides at pressures from ambient to 100 GPa using variable-composition evolutionary structure predictions. We find that Ca5C2, Ca2C, Ca3C2, CaC, Ca2C3, and CaC2 have stability fields on the phase diagram. Among these, Ca2C and Ca2C3 are successfully synthesized for the first time via high-pressure experiments with excellent structural correspondence to theoretical predictions. Of particula…
Austenite reversion during tempering of a Fe-13.6Cr-0.44C (wt.%) martensite results in an ultrahigh strength ferritic stainless steel with excellent ductility. The austenite reversion mechanism is coupled to the kinetic freezing of carbon during low-temperature partitioning at the interfaces between martensite and retained austenite and to carbon segregation at martensite-martensite grain boundaries. An advantage of austenite reversion is its scalability, i.e., changing tempering time and temperature tailors the desired strength-ductility profiles (e.g. tempering at 400°C for 1 min. produces a…
Density Functional Theory calculations using the quasi-harmonic approximation have been used to calculate the solid Hugoniot of two polytypes of boron carbide up to 100 GPa. Under the assumption that segregation into the elemental phases occurs around the pressure that the B11Cp(CBC) polytype becomes thermodynamically unstable with respect to boron and carbon, two discontinuities in the Hugoniot, one at 50 GPa and one at 90-100 GPa, are predicted. The former is a result of phase segregation, and the latter a phase transition within boron. First principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) simulations …
A miniature ceramic anvil high pressure cell (mCAC) was earlier designed by us for magnetic measurements at pressures up to 7.6 GPa in a commercial superconducting quantum interference (SQUID) magnetometer [N. Tateiwa et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 053906 (2011)]. Here, we describe methods to generate pressures above 10 GPa in the mCAC. The efficiency of the pressure generation is sharply improved when the Cu-Be gasket is sufficiently preindented. The maximum pressure for the 0.6 mm culet anvils is 12.6 GPa when the Cu-Be gasket is preindented from the initial thickness of 0.30 to 0.06 mm. The…
The electrical conductivity of melts of boron and its carbide (B4C), nitride (BN), and phosphide (BP) has been studied at pressures to 7.7 GPa and temperatures to 3500 K. It has been shown that these melts are good conductors with specific electrical conductivity values comparable with that of iron melt at ambient pressure.
Novel extended networks of C8, Si8 and silicon carbide Si4C4 are proposed based on crystal chemistry rationale and optimized structures to ground state energies and derived physical properties within the density functional theory (DFT). The two carbon and silicon allotropes and the silicon carbide belong to primitive tetragonal space group P-4m2 Number 115. C8 allotrope structure made of corner sharing C4 and Si4 tetrahedra is illustrated by charge density projections exhibiting sp3 like carbon hybridization. From careful symmetry analysis, Symmetry analysis of C8 indicated that it is another …
Flexible NbC nanocomposite thin films with carbon content ranging from 0 to 99 at.% were deposited at room temperature on Si (100) and polystyrene substrates by non-reactive magnetron sputtering from pure Nb and C targets without applying bias voltage to the substrates. HRTEM images reveal that the films exhibit a nanocomposite structure consisting of NbC nanocrystals (2 to 15 nm in size) embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix. By simply adjusting the Nb flux in the plasma, we can monitor the nanocrystal size and the percent of free-carbon phase in the films, which in turn allows for the tailo…
We have developed a new type of opposed-anvil high pressure cell with substantially improved space efficiency. The clamp cell and the gasket are made of non-magnetic Ni-Cr-Al alloy. Non-magnetic tungsten carbide (NMWC) is used for the anvils. The assembled cell with the dimension ϕ29mm \times 41mm is capable of generating pressure up to 9 GPa over a relatively large volume of 7 mm3. Our cell is particularly suitable for those experiments which require large sample space to achieve good signal-to-noise ratio, such as the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiment. Argon is used as the pressure…
The orthorhombic phase of Si-doped Fe carbide is synthesized at high pressures and temperatures using laser-heated diamond anvil cell (LHDAC), followed by its characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. High-pressure XRD measurements are carried out up to about 104 GPa at room temperature for determination of the equation of state (EOS) parameters of the synthesized sample. No evidence of structural transition is observed, though two anomalies are found in the compression behaviour of our sample at about 28 and 78…
Crystal structure searching and ab initio calculations have been used here to explore low-energy structures of boron carbides under high pressure. Under pressures of 85-110 GPa, a metastable B6C with R-3m symmetry is found to be energetically more stable than the mixture of previous B4C and elemental boron. This B6C is a rhombohedral structure and contains mooncake-like B24 clusters with stuffing of C2 pairs. The mechanical and dynamical stabilities of this structure at ambient pressure are confirmed by its elastic constants and phonon dispersions. The bulk modulus and shear modulus of this ne…
The structural properties under hydrostatic pressure up to 3 GPa of the layered rare earth carbide halide superconductor Y2C2I2 are studied by neutron powder diffraction at room temperature. The compressibilities are anisotropic, such that the compressibility perpendicular to the layers being approximately twice as large as within the layers. The atomic positional parameters determined from the powder diffraction patterns as a function of pressure were used as the basis for highly resolved electronic structure calculations. These reveal the electronic density of states at E_F to increase with …
Pressure-induced magnetic phase transition is attracting interest due to its ability to detect superconducting behaviour at high pressures in diamond anvil cells. However, detection of the local sample magnetic properties is a great challenge due to the small sample chamber volume. Recently, optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have been used for in-situ pressure-induced phase transition detection. However, owing to their four orientation axes and temperature-dependent zero-field-splitting, interpreting the observed ODMR spectra of NV centers…
