Hardness of FeB{sub 4}: Density functional theory investigation
- Department of Physics, Beihua University, Jilin 132013 (China)
- Department of Aeronautical Engineering Professional Technology, Jilin Institute of Chemical Technology, Jilin 132102 (China)
- Department of Physics, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang 473061 (China)
- Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5E2 (Canada)
A recent experimental study reported the successful synthesis of an orthorhombic FeB{sub 4} with a high hardness of 62(5) GPa [H. Gou et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 157002 (2013)], which has reignited extensive interests on whether transition-metal borides compounds will become superhard materials. However, it is contradicted with some theoretical studies suggesting transition-metal boron compounds are unlikely to become superhard materials. Here, we examined structural and electronic properties of FeB{sub 4} using density functional theory. The electronic calculations show the good metallicity and covalent Fe–B bonding. Meanwhile, we extensively investigated stress-strain relations of FeB{sub 4} under various tensile and shear loading directions. The calculated weakest tensile and shear stresses are 40 GPa and 25 GPa, respectively. Further simulations (e.g., electron localization function and bond length along the weakest loading direction) on FeB{sub 4} show the weak Fe–B bonding is responsible for this low hardness. Moreover, these results are consistent with the value of Vickers hardness (11.7–32.3 GPa) by employing different empirical hardness models and below the superhardness threshold of 40 GPa. Our current results suggest FeB{sub 4} is a hard material and unlikely to become superhard (>40 GPa)
- OSTI ID:
- 22252955
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 140, Issue 17; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
First-principles study on the structure, elastic properties, hardness and electronic structure of TMB{sub 4} (TM=Cr, Re, Ru and Os) compounds
Elastic and mechanical softening in boron-doped diamond