First-Principles Study of Electronic Structure, Mechanical, and Thermoelectric Properties of Ternary Palladates CdPd3O4 and TlPd3O4

Abstract

Ternary palladates CdPd3O4 and TlPd3O4 have been studied theoretically using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), modified Becke–Johnson, and spin–orbit coupling (GGA–SOC) exchange–correlation functionals in the density functional theory (DFT) framework. From the calculated ground-state properties, it is found that SOC effects are dominant in these palladates. Mechanical properties reveal that both compounds are ductile in nature. The electronic band structures show that CdPd3O4 is metallic, whereas TlPd3O4 is an indirect-bandgap semiconductor with energy gap of 1.1 eV. The optical properties show that TlPd3O4 is a good dielectric material. The dense electronic states, narrow-gap semiconductor nature, and Seebeck coefficient of TlPd3O4 suggest that it could be used as a good thermoelectric material. The magnetic susceptibility calculated by post-DFT treatment confirmed the paramagnetic behavior of these compounds.