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Accelerated design of hard-coating materials requires state-of-the-art computational tools, which include data-driven techniques, building databases, and training machine learning models. We develop a heavily automated high-throughput workflow to build a database of industrially relevant hard-coating materials, such as binary and ternary nitrides. We use the high-throughput toolkit to automate the density functional theory calculation workflow. We present results, including elastic constants that are a key parameter determining mechanical properties of hard-coatings, for X1−xYxN ternary nitrides, where X,Y ∈ {Al, Ti, Zr, Hf} and fraction x = 0 , 1 4 , 1 2 , 3 4 , 1 . We also explore ways for machine learning to support and complement the designed databases. We find that the crystal graph convolutional neural network trained on ordered lattices has sufficient accuracy for the disordered nitrides, suggesting that existing databases provide important data for predicting mechanical properties of qualitatively different types of materials, in our case disordered hard-coating alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we present a comprehensive study of the domain structure of a nickel oxide single crystal grown by floating zone melting and suggest a correlation between point defects and the observed domain structure. The properties and structure of domains dictate the dynamics of resistive switching, water splitting and gas sensing, to name but a few. Investigating the correlation between point defects and domain structure can provide a deeper understanding of their formation and structure, which potentially allows one to tailor domain structure and the dynamics of the aforementioned applications. A range of inhomogeneities are observed by diffraction and microscopy techniques. X-ray and low-energy electron diffraction reveal domains on the submicron- and nanometer-scales, respectively. In turn, these domains are visualised by atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), respectively. A comprehensive transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study reveals inhomogeneities ranging from domains of varying size, misorientation of domains, variation of the lattice constant and bending of lattice planes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy indicate the crystal is Ni deficient. Density functional theory calculations—considering the spatial and electronic disturbance induced by the favourable nickel vacancy—reveal a nanoscale distortion comparable to STM and TEM observations. The different inhomogeneities are understood in terms of the structural relaxation induced by ordering of nickel vacancies, which is predicted to be favourable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The review contains a description of modern methods and results of designing new materials for nuclear energy applications. The first part presented in this review contains a description of ab initio methods for calculating of materials properties. It describes rigorous and approximate quantum methods (density functional method) for the predicting the properties of materials employing modern supercomputers, and popular software packages for numerical simulation, as well as databases of first-principles calculations that exist internationally. With the accumulation of a large number of laborious quantum calculations, artificial intelligence methods are becoming more and more effective. In particular, machine learning methods are considered, and results of their use for the design of materials are presented in the review. The results of quantum mechanics modeling of binary alloys of iron, chromium and nickel are presented. The second part of the review will be devoted to quantum modeling of liquid and plasma states of matter in reactors, as well as experimental studies of materials for nuclear power. The third part of the review will be devoted to non-equilibrium plasma formed in reactors as a result of secondary processes during stopping of fast particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly-nitrogen compounds have been considered as potential high energy density materials for a long time due to the large number of energetic N-N or N=N bonds. In most cases high nitrogen content and stability at ambient conditions are mutually exclusive, thereby making the synthesis of such materials challenging. One way to stabilize such compounds is the application of high pressure. Here, through a direct reaction between Fe and N2 in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell, we synthesize three ironnitrogen compounds Fe3N2, FeN2 and FeN4. Their crystal structures are revealed by single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Fe3N2, synthesized at 50 GPa, is isostructural to chromium carbide Cr3C2. FeN2 has a marcasite structure type and features covalently bonded dinitrogen units in its crystal structure. FeN4, synthesized at 106 GPa, features polymeric nitrogen chains of [N42-]n units. Based on results of structural studies and theoretical analysis, [N42-]n units in this compound reveal catena-poly[tetraz-1-ene-1,4-diyl] anions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallic osmium (Os) is one of the most exceptional elemental materials, having, at ambient pressure, the highest known density and one of the highest cohesive energies and melting temperatures. It is also very incompressible, but its high-pressure behaviour is not well understood because it has been studied so far only at pressures below 75 gigapascals. Here we report powder X-ray diffraction measurements on Os at multi-megabar pressures using both conventional and double-stage diamond anvil cells, with accurate pressure determination ensured by first obtaining self-consistent equations of state of gold, platinum, and tungsten in static experiments up to 500 gigapascals. These measurements allow us to show that Os retains its hexagonal close-packed structure upon compression to over 770 gigapascals. But although its molar volume monotonically decreases with pressure, the unit cell parameter ratio of Os exhibits anomalies at approximately 150 gigapascals and 440 gigapascals. Dynamical mean-field theory calculations suggest that the former anomaly is a signature of the topological change of the Fermi surface for valence electrons. However, the anomaly at 440 gigapascals might be related to an electronic transition associated with pressure-induced interactions between core electrons. The ability to affect the core electrons under static high-pressure experimental conditions, even for incompressible metals such as Os, opens up opportunities to search for new states of matter under extreme compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energies of interaction between carbon impurity atoms in paramagnetic fcc iron (austenite) are calculated using electron density functional theory. Point defects in the paramagnetic matrix are described using a statistical approach that takes into account local magnetic fluctuations and atomic relaxation in the environment of impurity atoms. It is shown that, in addition to local deformations, magnetism significantly contributes to the energies of dissolution and interaction of carbon atoms. The values of the carbon-carbon interaction energy are indicative of a significant repulsion between these atoms in the first and second coordination spheres. The results of calculations are consistent with estimates obtained from experimental data on the activity of carbon impurity atoms in iron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exact muffin-tin orbitals (EMTO) method belongs to the third and latest generation of first-principles methods of calculating the electronic structure of materials in the so-called approximation of muffin-tin (MT) orbitals within the framework of the density functional theory. A study has been performed of its applicability for modeling the thermodynamic and mechanical properties of the pure components of Ti and Zr based alloys. The total energies of Ti, Zr, Nb, V, Mo, and Al are calculated in three crystal structures - face-centered cubic (FCC), body-centered cubic (BCC), and hexagonal close-packed (HCP). For all of these elements and crystal structures, we have calculated the theoretical values of the lattice constants, elastic constants, and equations of state. The stable crystal structures have been determined. In all cases, calculations by the EMTO method predict the correct structure of the ground state. For stable structures we compared the obtained results with experiment and with calculations using full potential methods. We have demonstrated the reliability of the EMTO method and conclude that its further application for effective modeling of the properties of disordered alloys based on Ti and Zr is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron-doped diamond undergoes an insulator-metal or even a superconducting transition at some critical value of the dopant concentration. We study the equilibrium lattice parameter and bulk modulus of boron-doped diamond experimentally and in the framework of the density functional method for different levels of boron doping. We theoretically consider the possibility for the boron atoms to occupy both substitutional and interstitial positions and investigate their influence on the electronic structure of the material. The data suggest that boron softens the lattice, but softening due to substitutions of carbon with boron is much weaker than due to incorporation of boron into interstitial positions. Theoretical results obtained for substitution of carbon are in very good agreement with our experiment. We present a concentration dependence of the lattice parameter in boron-doped diamond, which can be used for to identify the levels of boron doping in future experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boundary between the Earth's metallic core and its silicate mantle is characterized by strong lateral heterogeneity and sharp changes in density, seismic wave velocities, electrical conductivity and chemical composition. To investigate the composition and properties of the lowermost mantle, an understanding of the chemical reactions that take place between liquid iron and the complex Mg-Fe-Si-Al-oxides of the Earth's lower mantle is first required. Here we present a study of the interaction between iron and silica (SiO2) in electrically and laser-heated diamond anvil cells. In a multianvil apparatus at pressures up to 140?GPa and temperatures over 3,800?K we simulate conditions down to the core-mantle boundary. At high temperature and pressures below 40?GPa, iron and silica react to form iron oxide and an iron-silicon alloy, with up to 5?wt% silicon. At pressures of 85-140?GPa, however, iron and SiO2 do not react and iron-silicon alloys dissociate into almost pure iron and a CsCl-structured (B2) FeSi compound. Our experiments suggest that a metallic silicon-rich B2 phase, produced at the core-mantle boundary (owing to reactions between iron and silicate), could accumulate at the boundary between the mantle and core and explain the anomalously high electrical conductivity of this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A generalization of the Monte Carlo method to the case of grand canonical ensemble allowing the elimination of the problem of determination of the chemical potential of alloy components was proposed. The method is particularly convenient for the calculations of surface segregations because it excludes time-consuming calculation of the temperature-dependent bulk chemical potential μ(T). The new method was used for calculating segregations at the (100), (110), and (111) surfaces of the Ni[sub 50]Pd[sub 50] alloy using the Ising model with abinitio effective interatomic interaction potentials. © 2001 MAIK “Nauka / Interperiodica”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling of processes involving deep Earth liquids requires information on their structures and compression mechanisms. However, knowledge of the local structures of silicates and silica (SiO2) melts at deep mantle conditions and of their densification mechanisms is still limited. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of metastable high-pressure silica phases, coesite-IV and coesite-V, using in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction and ab initio simulations. Their crystal structures are drastically different from any previously considered models, but explain well features of pair-distribution functions of highly densified silica glass and molten basalt at high pressure. Built of four, five-, and six-coordinated silicon, coesite-IV and coesite-V contain SiO6 octahedra, which, at odds with 3rd Pauling’s rule, are connected through common faces. Our results suggest that possible silicate liquids in Earth’s lower mantle may have complex structures making them more compressible than previously supposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]