Authors: Jessica Botticelli René Fournier Min Zhang
Publish Date: 2008/02/26
Volume: 120, Issue: 4-6, Pages: 583-589
Abstract
Density functional theory was applied to a series of 13atom Zn–Cu alloy clusters We did a thorough search for the lowenergy isomers by global optimization plus explicit optimization of all homotops of the icosahedron Structures of copper rich clusters tend to be compact often icosahedra whereas zinc rich clusters rm Zn 8rm Cu 5+ Zn9Cu4 Zn11Cu2 have compact copper cores surrounded by an incomplete shell of solvating Zn atoms The icosahedral structure low total energy and large hardness of Zn7Cu6 indicate that it has special stability among Zn x Cu y clusters However Zn7Cu6 has many low lying isomers and a small cohesive energy compared to brass which suggest that it is not stable in a broader sense
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