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Group 14 elements (C, Si, and Ge) exist as various stable and metastable allotropes, some of which have been widely applied in industry. The discovery of new allotropes of these elements has long attracted considerable attention; however, the search is far from complete. Here we computationally discovered a tetragonal allotrope (12 atoms/cell, named T12) commonly found in C, Si, and Ge through a particle swarm structural search. The T12 structure employs sp3 bonding and contains extended helical six-membered rings interconnected by pairs of five- and seven-membered rings. This arrangement results in favorable thermodynamic conditions compared with most other experimentally or theoretically known sp3 species of group 14 elements. The T12 polymorph naturally accounts for the experimental d spacings and Raman spectra of synthesized metastable Ge and Si-XIII phases with long-puzzling unknown structures, respectively. We rationalized an alternative experimental route for the synthesis of the T12 phase via decompression from the high-pressure Si- or Ge-II phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel carbon allotrope of C-centered orthorhombic C8 (Cco-C8) is predicted by using a recently developed particle-swarm optimization method on structural search. Cco-C8 adopts a sp³ three-dimensional bonding network that can be viewed as interconnected (2, 2) carbon nanotubes through 4- and 6-member rings and is energetically more favorable than earlier proposed carbon polymorphs (e.g., M carbon, bct-C4, W carbon, and chiral C6) over a wide range of pressures studied (0-100 GPa). The simulated x-ray diffraction pattern, density, and bulk modulus of Cco-C8 are in good accordance with the experimental data on structurally undetermined superhard carbon recovered from cold compression of carbon nanotube bundles. The simulated hardness of Cco-C8 can reach a remarkably high value of 95.1 GPa, such that it is capable of cracking diamond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-pressure phase transitions of B1-structured stoichiometric transition metal carbides (TMCs, TM = Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, and Ta) were systematically investigated using ab initio calculations. These carbides underwent universal phase transitions along two novel phase-transition routes, namely, B1 → distorted TlI (TlI′) → TlI and/or B1 → distorted TiB (TiB′) → TiB, when subjected to pressure. The two routes can coexist possibly because of the tiny enthalpy differences between the new phases under corresponding pressures. Four new phases result from atomic slips of the B1-structured parent phases under pressure. After completely releasing the pressure, taking TiC as representative of TMCs, only its new TlI′-type phase is mechanically and dynamically stable, and may be recovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hard ultra-incompressible bulk Re2C material is first synthesized under moderate pressure (2−6 GPa) and high temperature (873−1873 K). The phase composition of Re2C was determined by a chemical analysis method, and its structure is finally determined to be a ReB2-type structure by means of X-ray diffraction, Raman technology, and ab initiocalculations. The hardness measurements show that it is a hard material which can rival ReB2. More impressively, its volume incompressibility is comparable with that of diamond, and its caxis incompressibility even exceeds that of diamond. In the end, the P−Tphase diagram of the Re−C system has also been determined in the regions of P= 1−6 GPa and T= 873−1873 K. The moderate synthesis conditions show that this hard ultra-incompressible bulk material will obtain the further applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regular hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) samples present a few of intrinsic stacking faults, which result in a long-standing controversy about their electronic properties. To resolve this controversy, we designed eight possible BN polytypes with triple-layer periodicity. Under ambient pressure, the energies of all the proposed polytypes are between those of observed AA and Aa (h-BN) structures. Two proposed polytypes with direct bandgaps might be responsible for the direct bandgap observed in the h-BN samples. A model was proposed to show how the proposed structures might exist in the h-BN samples by analyzing the stacking characteristics and the previous experimental micrographs of h-BN samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of high-entropy borides with combined structural and functional performance holds untold scientific and technological potential, yet relevant studies have been rarely reported. In this work, we report nanocrystalline (La0.25Ce0.25Nd0.25Eu0.25)B6 high-entropy rare-earth hexaboride (HEReB6-1) ceramics fabricated through the high-pressure sintering of self-synthesized nanopowders for the first time. The as-fabricated samples exhibited a highly dense (96.3%) nanocrystalline (94 nm) microstructure with major (001) fiber textures and good grain boundaries without any impurities, resulting in a remarkable mechanical, electrical, and thermionic emission performance. The results showed that the samples possessed outstanding comprehensive mechanical properties and a high electrical resistivity from room temperature to high temperatures; these were greater than the average values of corresponding binary rare-earth hexaborides, such as a Vickers hardness of 23.4 ± 0.6 GPa and a fracture toughness of 3.0 ± 0.4 MPa•m1/2 at room temperature. More importantly, they showed high emission current densities at elevated temperatures, which were higher than the average values of the corresponding binary rare-earth hexaborides. For instance, the maximum emission current density reached 48.3 A•cm−2 at 1873 K. Such superior performance makes the nanocrystalline HEReB6-1 ceramics highly suitable for potential applications in thermionic emission cathodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the stability and mechanical and electronic properties of 15 metastable mixed sp² - sp³ carbon allotropes in the family of interpenetrating graphene networks (IGNs) using density functional theory (DFT). IGN allotropes exhibit nonmonotonic bulk and linear compressibilities before their structures irreversibly transform into new configurations under large hydrostatic compression. The maximum bulk compressibilities vary widely between structures and range from 3.6 to 306 TPa-1. We find all the IGN allotropes have negative linear compressibilities with maximum values varying from -0.74 to - 133 TPa-1. The maximal negative linear compressibility of Z33 (-133 TPa-1 at 3.4 GPa) exceeds previously reported values at pressures higher than 1.0 GPa. IGN allotropes can be classified as either armchair or zigzag type, and these two types of IGNs exhibit different electronic properties. Zigzag-type IGNs are node-line semimetals, while armchair-type IGNs are either semiconductors or node-loop or node-line semimetals. Experimental synthesis of these IGN allotropes might be realized since their formation enthalpies relative to graphite are only 0.1-0.5 eV/atom (that of C 60 fullerene is about 0.4 eV/atom), and energetically feasible binary compound pathways are possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four sp²-sp³ hybrid carbon allotropes are proposed on the basis of first principles calculations. These four carbon allotropes are energetically more favorable than graphite under suitable pressure conditions. They can be assembled from graphite through intralayer wrinkling and interlayer buckling, which is similar to the formation of diamond from graphite. For one of the sp²-sp³ hybrid carbon allotropes, mC24, the electron diffraction patterns match these of i-carbon, which is synthesized from shock-compressed graphite (H. Hirai and K. Kondo, Science, 1991, 253, 772). The allotropes exhibit tunable electronic characteristics from metallic to semiconductive with band gaps comparable to those of silicon allotropes. They are all superhard materials with Vickers hardness values comparable to that of cubic BN. The sp²-sp³ hybrid carbon allotroes are promising materials for photovoltaic electronic devices, and abrasive and grinding tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel sp2-sp3 hybridized orthorhombic BC2N (o-BC2N) structure (space group: Pmm2, No. 25 ) is investigated using first-principles calculations. O-BC2N is constructed from multi-layers of C sandwiched between two layers of BN along the c axis; this structure contains sp2- and sp3-hybridized B-C, C-C, and C-N bonds. The structural stability of o-BC2N is confirmed based on the calculation results for elastic constants and phonon dispersions. On the basis of the semi-empirical microscopic model, we speculate that the o-BC2N compound is a potential superhard material with a Vickers hardness of 41.2 GPa. Calculated results for electronic band structures, density of states (DOS) and partial DOS (PDOS) show that the o-BC2N crystal is metallic. The conducting electrons at the Fermi level are mostly from the 2p orbits of sp2-hybridized B4, N1, and Ci (i¼2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8) atoms, with slight contribution from the sp3-hybridizd B2 atoms. Furthermore, the calculated electron orbits of the o-BC2N crystal demonstrate that the 2p orbits of the sp2-hybridized atoms overlapped and formed π bonds. The electrons can conduct through the π bonds along the orientation parallel to the [100] and [010] directions in different layers, and the basal planes were formed by B2-C3-C4 blocks, indicating that the o-BC2N possesses the fascinating electronic property of linearplanar metallicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-pressure behaviors of large-diameter single-walled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are studied by the first-principles method. One sp³-hybridized and three sp²/sp³-hybridized BN allotropes are obtained via compressing large diameter BNNTs. Due to the restricted movement of nonequivalent B and N atoms, the large BN nanotubes have a chance to form B-B and N-N bonds between intertubes under pressure, in addition to the common B-N bonds. The electron localization function and Mulliken's population analysis indicate the covalent nature of the B-B and N-N dimers. The electronic band structure and density of state calculations show a local conducting feature of tP24-BN and superhard semiconducting character of the other three allotropes with indirect band gaps of 1.28 - 3.13 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical properties of covalent materials can be greatly enhanced with strategy of nanostructuring. For example, the nanotwinned diamond with an isotropic microstructure of interweaved nanotwins and interlocked nanograins shows unprecedented isotropic mechanical properties. How the anisotropic microstructure would impact on the mechanical properties of diamond has not been fully investigated. Here, we report the synthesis of diamond from superaligned multiwalled carbon nanotube films under high pressure and high temperature. Structural characterization reveals preferentially oriented diamond nanotwin bundles with an average twin thickness of ca. 2.9 nm, inherited from the directional nanotubes. This diamond exhibits extreme mechanical anisotropy correlated with its microstructure (e.g., the average Knoop hardness values measured with the major axis of the indenter perpendicular and parallel to nanotwin bundles are 233 ± 8 and 129 ± 9 GPa, respectively). Molecular dynamics simulation reveals that, in the direction perpendicular to the nanotwin bundles, the dense twin boundaries significantly hinder the motion of dislocations under indentation, while such a resistance is much weaker in the direction along the nanotwin bundles. Current work verifies the hardening effect in diamond via nanostructuring. In addition, the mechanical properties can be further tuned (anisotropy) with microstructure design and modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By utilizing a crystal structure prediction software via particle swarm optimization, this study proposes three new high-pressure phases of aluminum phosphide (AlP) with high density and high hardness, in addition to previously proposed phases (wz-, zb-, rs-, NiAs-, β-Sn-, CsCl-, and Cmcm-AlP). These new phases are as follows: (1) an I43d symmetric structure (cI24-AlP) at 55.2 GPa, (2) an R3m symmetric structure (hR18-AlP) at 9.9 GPa, and (3) a C222 symmetric structure (oC12-AlP) at 20.6 GPa. Based on first-principle calculations, these phases have higher energetic advantage than CsCl- and β-Sn-AlP at ambient pressure. The independent elastic constants and phonon dispersion spectra are calculated to check the mechanical and dynamic stabilities of these phases. According to mechanical property studies, these new AlP phases have higher hardness than NiAs-AlP, and oC12-AlP has the highest hardness of 7.9 GPa. Electronic band structure calculations indicate that NiAs- and hR18-AlP have electrical conductivity. Additionally, wz-, zb-, and oC12-AlP possess semiconductive properties with indirect bandgaps, and cI24-AlP has a semiconductive property with a direct bandgap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elemental silicon has a large impact on the economy of the modern world and is of fundamental importance in the technological field, particularly in solar cell industry. The great demand of society for new clean energy and the shortcomings of the current silicon solar cells are calling for new materials that can make full use of the solar power. In this paper, six metastable allotropes of silicon with direct or quasidirect band gaps of 0.39–1.25 eV are predicted by ab initio calculations at ambient pressure. Five of them possess band gaps within the optimal range for high converting efficiency from solar energy to electric power and also have better optical properties than the Si-I phase. These Si structures with different band gaps could be applied to multiple p–n junction photovoltaic modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two-dimensional layered materials, layer number and stacking order have strong effects on the optical and electronic properties. Tungsten disulfide (WS2) crystal, as one important member among transition metal dichalcogenides, has been usually prepared in a layered 2H prototype structure with space group P63/mmc () in spite of many other expected ones such as 3R. Here, we report simultaneous growth of 2H and 3R stacked multilayer (ML) WS2 crystals in large scale by chemical vapor deposition and effects of layer number and stacking order on optical and electronic properties. As revealed in Raman and photoluminescence (PL) measurements, with an increase in layer number, 2H and 3R stacked ML WS2 crystals show similar variation of PL and Raman peaks in position and intensity. Compared to 2H stacked ML WS2, however, 3R stacked one always exhibits the larger red (blue) shift of Raman (A1g) peak and the appearance of PL A, B and I peaks at lower energies. Thereby, PL and Raman features depend on not only layer number but also stacking order. In addition, circularly polarized luminescence from two prototype WS2 crystals under circularly polarized excitation has also been investigated, showing obvious spin or valley polarization of these CVD-grown multilayer WS2 crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centimeter-scale continuous monolayer WS2 film with large tensile strain has been successfully grown on oxidized silicon substrate by chemical vapor deposition, in which monolayer grains can be more than 200 μm in size. Monolayer WS2 grains are observed to merge together via not only traditional grain boundaries but also non-traditional ones, which are named as grain walls (GWs) due to their nanometer-scale widths. The GWs are revealed to consist of two or three layers. Though not a monolayer, the GWs exhibit significantly enhanced fluorescence and photoluminescence. This enhancement may be attributed to abundant structural defects such as stacking faults and partial dislocations in the GWs, which are clearly observable in atomically resolved high resolution transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy images. Moreover, GW-based phototransistor is found to deliver higher photocurrent than that based on monolayer film. These features of GWs provide a clue to microstructure engineering of monolayer WS2 for specific applications in (opto)electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]