title: First-Principles Analysis on the Catalytic Role of Additives in Low-Temperature Synthesis of Transition Metal Diborides Using Nanolaminates.
abstract: Carbon is known to significantly accelerate the formation reaction of zirconium diboride in reactive nanolaminates, although the detailed mechanism remains unclear. Here we investigate the catalytic effect of both C and N on the synthesis of ZrB2 using a first-principles theoretical approach. We show that the strong interactions of C and N with Zr at the B/Zr interfaces of the nanolaminate enhance the solid-state amorphization of the Zr lattice. Amorphization of the Zr, in turn, accelerates intermixing of the constituent layers of the reactive nanolaminate. On the basis of these results we propose that the addition of elements with strong binding energies to transition metals may facilitate low-temperature synthesis of transition metal diborides using reactive nanolaminates.
authors.affiliation: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States.
authors.forename: Dongwoo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University , Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States.
authors.forename: Joost J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Vlassak
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University , West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, United States.
authors.forename: Kejie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhao
keywords: amorphization; first-principles; kinetics; metal diborides; reactive nanolaminate