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Liu Y, Wang K, Ge N, Sun H, Dai B, Wang Y. Electronic and elastic properties of metastable Zr 3N 4: a joint experimental and theoretical study. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:12709-12716. [PMID: 38605665 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp05917k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
The electronic structures and elastic properties of metastable Zr3N4 phases have been investigated using the first-principles calculations with the Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE06) hybrid functional, in comparison with those of the stable ZrN phase. All three metastable Zr3N4 phases (including orthorhombic, spinel and Th3P4-type phases) are found to be semiconducting with bandgaps of 1.72-1.94 eV. In particular, the computationally indirect bandgap of 1.72 eV of orthorhombic Zr3N4 is consistent with the experimental value of 1.8 eV. The detailed analyses of the electronic structures reveal that the change of electrical conductivity from metallic ZrN to semiconducting Zr3N4 is mainly due to the electron transfer from Zr to N atoms, which weakens the Zr-Zr interactions and reduces the proportion of metallic bonding. In addition, the elastic properties of Zr3N4 and ZrN phases have been calculated. The theoretical hardness values of ZrN and orthorhombic Zr3N4 are 18.06 and 6.98 GPa, respectively, agreeing well with the experimental values of 19.26 and 7.90 GPa. This work may further promote the understanding of the promising Zr-N material system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhe Liu
- School of Space Science and Physics, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
- Weihai Research Institute of Industrial Technology, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
| | - Kunlun Wang
- School of Space Science and Physics, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
- Weihai Research Institute of Industrial Technology, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
| | - Nina Ge
- State Key Laboratory for Environmental-friendly Energy Materials, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
| | - Hui Sun
- School of Space Science and Physics, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
- Weihai Research Institute of Industrial Technology, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
| | - Bo Dai
- State Key Laboratory for Environmental-friendly Energy Materials, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
| | - Yong Wang
- School of Space Science and Physics, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
- Weihai Research Institute of Industrial Technology, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China.
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Yao S, Li J, Huang L, Xie X, Dong H, Long H, Zhang X, Wu F, Mu Z, Wen M. Pressure-induced novel ZrN 4 semiconductor materials with high dielectric constants: a first-principles study. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:28727-28734. [PMID: 37850232 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp03949h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
In addition to Zr3N4 and ZrN2 compounds, zirconium nitrides with a rich family of phases always exhibit metal phases. By employing an evolutionary algorithm approach and first-principles calculations, we predicted seven novel semiconductor phases for the ZrN4 system at 0-150 GPa. Through calculating phonon dispersions, we identified four dynamically stable semiconductor structures under ambient pressure, namely, α-P1̄, β-P1̄, γ-P1̄, and β-P1 (with bandgaps of 1.03 eV, 1.10 eV, 2.33 eV, and 1.49 eV calculated using the HSE06 hybrid density functional, respectively). The calculated work functions and dielectric functions show that the four dynamically stable semiconductor structures are all high dielectric constant (high-k) materials, among which the β-P1̄ phase has the largest static dielectric constant (3.9 times that of SiO2). Furthermore, we explored band structures using the HSE06 functional and density of states (DOS) and the response of bandgaps to pressure using the PBE functional for the four new semiconductor configurations. The results show that the bandgap responses of the four structures exhibit significant differences when hydrostatic pressure is applied from 0 to 150 GPa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaoting Yao
- School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
| | - Junzhao Li
- School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
| | - Le Huang
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Xing Xie
- School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan Key Laboratory for Super-microstructure and Ultrafast Process, Central South University, 932 South Lushan Road, Changsha, Hunan 410083, P. R. China
| | - Huafeng Dong
- School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
| | - Hui Long
- School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
| | - Xin Zhang
- School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
| | - Fugen Wu
- School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Zhongfei Mu
- Experimental Teaching Department, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Minru Wen
- School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
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Prediction of novel tetravalent metal pentazolate salts with anharmonic effect. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fmre.2022.10.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
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Xie X, Wen M, Dong H, Long H, Zhang X, Wu F, Mu Z. Semiconductors with Chiral Crystal Structure in Group IVB Transition Metal Pernitrides. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:22046-22056. [DOI: 10.1039/d2cp02627a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Group IVB transition metal (TM) nitrides rarely exhibit semiconductor phase, except for TM3N4 (TM = Ti, Zr, and Hf) compounds. In this study, using the ab-initio calculations based on density...
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Structure and Properties of ZrON Coatings Synthesized by Cathodic Arc Evaporation. MATERIALS 2021; 14:ma14061483. [PMID: 33803527 PMCID: PMC8003025 DOI: 10.3390/ma14061483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The transition metal oxynitrides are a coating material with decorative features due to their adjustable color and good mechanical properties. The purpose of the research was to study the effect of the relative oxygen concentration O2(x) = O2/(N2 + O2) in particular on adhesion, but also on the color, structural and mechanical properties of ZrON coatings synthesized by cathodic arc evaporation on HS6-5-2 steel substrates. The surface morphology, phase and chemical composition and mechanical properties were determined using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, nanoindentation and scratch test. It was found that color of the coatings changed from light yellow for ZrN first to gold and then to graphite for Zr-O phase with increase of oxygen concentration. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the phase separation of ZrN and ZrO2 occurred for about 35 at.% of oxygen in the coating. Increase in oxygen concentration in the coatings led to decrease in crystallite size from about 20 nm for ZrN to about 5 nm for coatings with about 35 at.% of oxygen and about 25 at.% of nitrogen. An increase in hardness from about 26 GPa for ZrN to about 30 GPa for coating with small concentration of oxygen (about 9 at.%) and then decrease to about 15 GPa was observed. Adhesion of Zr-O-N coatings demonstrated strong dependence on oxygen concentration. Critical load for ZrN is about 80 N and decreases with oxygen concentration increase to about 30 N for ZrO2.
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El-Eskandarany MS, Al-Salem SM, Ali N. Top-Down Reactive Approach for the Synthesis of Disordered ZrN Nanocrystalline Bulk Material from Solid Waste. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2020; 10:E1826. [PMID: 32933163 PMCID: PMC7559881 DOI: 10.3390/nano10091826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Transition metal nitrides possess superior mechanical, physical, and chemical properties that make them desirable materials for a broad range of applications. A prime example is zirconium nitride (ZrN), which can be obtained through different fabrication methods that require the applications of high temperature and pressure. The present work reports an interesting procedure for synthesizing disordered face centered cubic (fcc)-ZrN nanoparticles through the reactive ball milling (RBM) technique. One attractive point of this study is utilizing inexpensive solid-waste (SW) zirconium (Zr) rods as feedstock materials to fabricate ZrN nanopowders. The as-received SW Zr rods were chemically cleaned and activated, arc-melted, and then disintegrated into powders to obtain the starting Zr metal powders. The powders were charged and sealed under nitrogen gas using a pressurized milling steel vial. After 86 ks of milling, a single fcc-ZrN phase was obtained. This phase transformed into a metastable fcc-phase upon RBM for 259 ks. The disordered ZrN powders revealed good morphological characteristics of spherical shapes and ultrafine nanosize (3.5 nm). The synthetic ZrN nanopowders were consolidated through a spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique into nearly full-density (99.3% of the theoretical density for ZrN) pellets. SPS has proven to be an integral step in leading to desirable and controlled grain growth. Moreover, the sintered materials were not transformed into any other phase(s) upon consolidation at 1673 K. The results indicated that increasing the RBM time led to a significant decrease in the grain size of the ZrN powders. As a result, the microhardness of the consolidated samples was consequently improved with increasing RBM time.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Sherif El-Eskandarany
- Energy and Building Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
| | - Sultan Majed Al-Salem
- Environment & Life Sciences Research Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
| | - Naser Ali
- Energy and Building Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
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Hirata K, Yamada H, Uehara M, Anggraini SA, Akiyama M. First-Principles Study of Piezoelectric Properties and Bonding Analysis in (Mg, X, Al)N Solid Solutions (X = Nb, Ti, Zr, Hf). ACS OMEGA 2019; 4:15081-15086. [PMID: 31552351 PMCID: PMC6751696 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.9b01912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The enhancement mechanism of piezoelectric properties by codoping Mg + X (X = Nb, Ti, Zr, Hf) into aluminum nitride (AlN) was investigated by first-principles calculations. Theoretically, the piezoelectric constant (d 33) can be increased when the elastic constant (C 33) is decreased and the piezoelectric stress constant (e 33) is increased. All components of e 33, which consists of the clamped e 33, the Born effective charge (Z 33), and the strain sensitivity (du/dε) of the internal parameter, were improved by the addition of Mg + X into AlN. The decrease in C 33 and the increase in du/dε that were observed in Mg + X-codoped AlN indicate the occurrence of elastic softening which was considered to be influenced by changes in the interatomic bond in the wurtzite structure. The bonding analysis of metal-nitrogen (Me-N) pairs in the Mg + X-codoped AlN system which was carried out by crystal orbital Hamilton populations showed that the covalent bonding (Me-N) was weaker than in pure AlN. Therefore, this weaker covalent bond is considered to be one of the origins of the elastic softening. Similar phenomena were also found for Sc-doped AlN which has higher piezoelectric response than that of pure AlN.
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Ushakov SV, Navrotsky A, Hong QJ, van de Walle A. Carbides and Nitrides of Zirconium and Hafnium. MATERIALS 2019; 12:ma12172728. [PMID: 31454900 PMCID: PMC6747801 DOI: 10.3390/ma12172728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Among transition metal carbides and nitrides, zirconium, and hafnium compounds are the most stable and have the highest melting temperatures. Here we review published data on phases and phase equilibria in Hf-Zr-C-N-O system, from experiment and ab initio computations with focus on rocksalt Zr and Hf carbides and nitrides, their solid solutions and oxygen solubility limits. The systematic experimental studies on phase equilibria and thermodynamics were performed mainly 40–60 years ago, mostly for binary systems of Zr and Hf with C and N. Since then, synthesis of several oxynitrides was reported in the fluorite-derivative type of structures, of orthorhombic and cubic higher nitrides Zr3N4 and Hf3N4. An ever-increasing stream of data is provided by ab initio computations, and one of the testable predictions is that the rocksalt HfC0.75N0.22 phase would have the highest known melting temperature. Experimental data on melting temperatures of hafnium carbonitrides are absent, but minimum in heat capacity and maximum in hardness were reported for Hf(C,N) solid solutions. New methods, such as electrical pulse heating and laser melting, can fill the gaps in experimental data and validate ab initio predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey V Ushakov
- Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and NEAT ORU, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Alexandra Navrotsky
- Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and NEAT ORU, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Qi-Jun Hong
- School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
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Yu R, Sun E, Jiao L, Cai Y, Wang H, Yao Y. Crystal structures of transition metal pernitrides predicted from first principles. RSC Adv 2018; 8:36412-36421. [PMID: 35558939 PMCID: PMC9088874 DOI: 10.1039/c8ra07814a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 10/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We have extensively explored the stable crystal structures of early-transition metal pernitrides (TMN2, TM = Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, and Ta) at ambient and high pressures using effective CALYPSO global structure search algorithm in combination with first-principles calculations. We identified for the first time the ground-state structures of MnN2, TaN2, NbN2, VN2, ZrN2, and HfN2 pernitrides, and proposed their synthesis pressures. All predicted crystal structures contain encapsulated N2 dumbbells in which the two N atoms are singly bonded to a [N2]4− pernitride unit utilizing the electrons transferred from the transition metals. The strong nature of the single dinitrogen bond and transition metal–nitrogen charge transfer induce extraordinary mechanic properties in the predicted transition metal pernitrides including large bulk modulus and high Vickers hardness. Among the predictions the hardness of MnN2 is 36.6 GPa, suggesting that it is potentially a hard material. The results obtained in the present study are important to the understanding of structure–property relationships in transition metal pernitrides and will hopefully encourage future synthesis of these technologically important materials. We identified for the first time the ground-state structures of MnN2, TaN2, NbN2, VN2, ZrN2 and HfN2 pernitrides and proposed their synthesis pressures.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongmei Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials
- College of Physics
- Jilin University
- Changchun
- P. R. China
| | - Ermiao Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials
- College of Physics
- Jilin University
- Changchun
- P. R. China
| | - Liguang Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials
- College of Physics
- Jilin University
- Changchun
- P. R. China
| | - Yongmao Cai
- School of Science
- Northeast Electric Power University
- Jilin
- P. R. China
| | - Hongbo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials
- College of Physics
- Jilin University
- Changchun
- P. R. China
| | - Yansun Yao
- Department of Physics and Engineering Physics
- University of Saskatchewan
- Saskatoon
- Canada
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