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    Determining surface structure and stability of ε-Fe2C, χ-Fe5C2, θ-Fe3C and Fe4C phases under carburization environment from combined DFT and atomistic thermodynamic studies
    (London : Taylor & Francis, 2014) Zhao, Shu; Liu, Xing-Wu; Huo, Chun-Fang; Li, Yong-Wang; Wang, Jianguo; Jiao, Haijun
    The chemical–physical environment around iron based FTS catalysts under working conditions is used to estimate the influences of carbon containing gases on the surface structures and stability of ε-Fe2C, χ-Fe5C2, θ-Fe3C and Fe4C from combined density functional theory and atomistic–thermodynamic studies. Higher carbon content gas has higher carburization ability; while higher temperature and lower pressure as well as higher H2/CO ratio can suppress carburization ability. Under wide ranging gas environment, ε-Fe2C, χ-Fe5C2 and θ-Fe3C have different morphologies, and the most stable non-stoichiometric termination changes from carbon-poor to carbon-rich (varying surface Fe/C ratio) upon the increase in ΔμC. The most stable surfaces of these carbides have similar surface bonding pattern, and their surface properties are related to some common phenomena of iron based catalysts. For these facets, χ-Fe5C2-(100)-2.25 is most favored for CO adsorption and CH4 formation, followed by θ-Fe3C-(010)-2.33, ε-Fe2C-(121)-2.00 and Fe4C-(100)-3.00, in line with surface work function and the charge of the surface carbon atoms.
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    When Density Functional Approximations Meet Iron Oxides
    (Washington, DC : Soc., 2016) Meng, Yu; Liu, Xing-Wu; Huo, Chun-Fang; Guo, Wen-Ping; Cao, Dong-Bo; Peng, Qing; Dearden, Albert; Gonze, Xavier; Yang, Yong; Wang, Jianguo; Jiao, Haijun; Li, Yongwang; Wen, Xiao-Dong
    Three density functional approximations (DFAs), PBE, PBE+U, and Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof screened hybrid functional (HSE), were employed to investigate the geometric, electronic, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties of four iron oxides, namely, α-FeOOH, α-Fe2O3, Fe3O4, and FeO. Comparing our calculated results with available experimental data, we found that HSE (a = 0.15) (containing 15% "screened" Hartree-Fock exchange) can provide reliable values of lattice constants, Fe magnetic moments, band gaps, and formation energies of all four iron oxides, while standard HSE (a = 0.25) seriously overestimates the band gaps and formation energies. For PBE+U, a suitable U value can give quite good results for the electronic properties of each iron oxide, but it is challenging to accurately get other properties of the four iron oxides using the same U value. Subsequently, we calculated the Gibbs free energies of transformation reactions among iron oxides using the HSE (a = 0.15) functional and plotted the equilibrium phase diagrams of the iron oxide system under various conditions, which provide reliable theoretical insight into the phase transformations of iron oxides.