Cesium-chloride (CsCl) based intermetallic alloys that are formed between Ti and Group VIIIB and IB metals (Fe, Ni, Ru, Rh, Pd, Os Ir, Pt and Au) are currently explored for various potential applications as hydrogen storage, shape memory and biomedical materials. These compounds display excellent structural properties such as high strength due to their stable B2 phase at elevated temperatures. However, when some are subjected to unfavourable conditions such as lower temperature they become unstable and undergo a phase transition to low symmetry phases. In this work, we conducted a detailed comparative study using both VASP and CASTEP codes to carry out the first-principles calculations. Phase stability and martensitic phase transition were evaluated from the enthalpies of formation, the density of states as well as the phonon dispersion curves. There was no frequency gap observed on phonons density of states (PHDOS) spectra of the investigated compounds containing noble transition metals due to higher d-orbital electron filling.
Most CsCl-type intermetallics composed of group IV and VIII–XI transition metals have shape memory effect (SME), a phenomenon that occurs on a certain class of materials with an ability to undergo martensitic transformation (MT) during cooling. This advanced functional materials’ property is enabled by MT from high-temperature B2 phase of high symmetry to lower symmetry phases such as L10, B19 or B19’ upon cooling. Peculiarly, Ti50Ru50 with similar ordered B2 at high temperature remains ordered and stable with no phase transition down to room temperature. In this study, first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) are used to investigate the structural, thermodynamic and electronic properties of the stable Ti50Ru50 compound by systematically substituting part of the Ru atoms with ductile group 10 metal (Ni, Pd and Pt). This is an attempt to destabilizing B2 phase at 0 K through Ti50Ru50-xYx ternary alloying to promote MT that could yield SME.
Graphical Abstract
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