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Ab initio molecular dynamics calculations on a carbonate‐silicate‐metal melt were performed to study speciation and coordination changes as a function of pressure and temperature. We examine in detail the bond abundances of specific element pairs and the distribution of coordination environments over conditions spanning Earth’s present‐day mantle. Average coordination numbers increase continuously from 4 to 8 for Fe and Mg, from 4 to 6 for Si, and from 2 to 4 for C from 1 to 148 GPa (4,000 K). Speciation across all pressure and temperature conditions is complex due to the unusual bonding of carbon. With the increasing pressure, C‐C and C‐Fe bonding increase significantly, resulting in the formation of carbon polymers, C‐Fe clusters, and the loss of carbonate groups. The increased bonding of carbon with elements other than oxygen indicates that carbon begins to replace oxygen as an anion in the melt network. We evaluate our results in the context of diamond formation and of metal‐silicate partitioning behavior of carbon. Our work has implications for properties of carbon and metal‐bearing silicate melts, such as viscosity, electrical conductivity, and reactivity with surrounding phases.

 

Geometrical and vibrational characterization of magnesium hydroxide was performed using density functional theory. Four possible crystal symmetries were explored: P 3̄ (No. 147, point group −3), C 2/ m (No. 12, point group 2), P 3 m 1 (No. 156, point group 3 m ) and P 3̄ m 1 (No. 164, point group −3 m ) which are the currently accepted geometries found in the literature. While a lot of work has been performed on Mg(OH) 2 , in particular for the P 3̄ m 1 phase, there is still a debate on the observed ground state crystal structure and the anharmonic effects of the OH vibrations on the stabilization of the crystal structure. In particular, the stable positions of hydrogen are not yet defined precisely, which have implications in the crystal symmetry, the vibrational excitations, and the thermal stability. Previous work has assigned the P 3̄ m 1 polymorph as the low energy phase, but it has also proposed that hydrogens are disordered and they could move from their symmetric position in the P 3̄ m 1 structure towards P 3̄. In this paper, we examine the stability of the proposed phases by using different descriptors. We compare the XRD patterns with reported experimental results, and a fair agreement is found. While harmonic vibrational analysis shows that most phases have imaginary modes at 0 K, anharmonic vibrational analysis indicates that at room temperature only the C 2/ m phase is stabilized, whereas at higher temperatures, other phases become thermally competitive.