A comprehensive investigation on the physical properties of SiC polymorphs for high-temperature applications: A DFT study based on GGA and hybrid HSE06 exchange correlation functionals

Abstract

This investigation reports the structural, electronic, bonding, elastic, mechanical, thermodynamic, thermal and optical characteristics of SiC polymorphs by DFT based GGA and hybrid HSE06 ab-initio computational methodology. SiC exhibits a multitude of structural orientations, with cubic (3C SiC) and hexagonal (4H SiC and 6H SiC) being the most prevalent. In my research, I aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of these SiC polymorphs and their potential suitability for high-temperature applications, especially as a cladding material for accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) in new-generation nuclear power plants (NPPs). The structural stability is ensured by geometry optimization and the relaxed parameters are agreed well with the previously reported findings. All the studied SiC polytypes reveal the semiconducting electronic property. By utilizing the hybrid HSE06 functional, the obtained electronic band gap meets the experimental results more closely than that obtained by the GGA approximation. The mechanical stability of all studied SiC polymorphs is evident from their elastic and mechanical properties, showcasing a brittle nature. The analysis of bond populations reveals the coexistence of both ionic and covalent bonds within the SiC structure. The thermoelectric and thermal characteristics of mechanically stable SiC polymorphs revealing that, all the compounds possess high lattice thermal conductivity and high melting point. Among these, 3C SiC stands out with the highest thermal conductivity of 172 Wm-1K−1 at 300 K and a melting temperature of 2840 K. The relatively low dielectric constant, high absorption coefficient and broad reflectivity spectra with > 90 % reflection in the UV region suggest that, SiC polymorphs can also be the potential candidates for optoelectronic devices. All the extreme physical stabilities make SiC polymorphs suitable for practical applications in high temperature environments.