Thermodynamic property of ternary compound MgCaSi: A study from ab initio Debye-Grüneisen model

摘要

The thermodynamic properties of Mg Ca Si and its mother phase Ca2 Si are comparatively investigated from ab initio calculations and quasi-harmonic Debye-Grüneisen model. At 0 K, Mg Ca Si is more thermodynamically stable. Under high temperature, the advantage of higher thermodynamically stability of Mg Ca Si is reduced, originating from the less negative entropy contribution because the thermodynamic entropy of Mg Ca Si increases more slowly with temperature and the entropy values are slightly smaller.With increasing temperature, the anti-softening ability for Mg Ca Si is slightly smaller due to the slightly faster decrease trend of bulk modulus than that of Ca2 Si, although the bulk modulus of Mg Ca Si is higher in the whole temperature range considered. The thermal expansion behaviors of both Mg Ca Si and Ca_(2)Si exhibit similar increase trend, although thermal expansion coefficient of MgCaSi is slightly lower and the increases is slightly slower at lower temperature. The isochoric heat capacity CVand isobaric heat capacity CPof MgCaSi and Ca_(2)Si rise nonlinearly with temperature, and both CVare close to the Dulong–Petit limit at high temperature due to the negligibly small electronic contribution. The Debye temperature of both phases decrease with increasing temperature, and the downtrend for Mg Ca Si is slightly faster.However, MgCaSi possess slightly higher Debye temperature, implying the stronger chemical bonds and higher thermal conductivity than the mother phase Ca_(2)Si. The Grüneisen parameter of MgCaSi and Ca_(2)Si increase slightly with temperature, the values of MgCaSi are slightly larger. The investigation of electronic structures shows that with substitution of partial Ca by Mg in Ca_(2)Si, the stronger MgASi,MgACa and SiASi covalent bonds are formed, and plays a very significant role for the structural stability and mechanical properties.