Ab initio study of structural, mechanical, thermal and electronic properties of perovskites Sr(Li, Pd)H3

The structural, elastic, thermal and electronic properties of perovskite hydrides SrLiH3 and SrPdH3 have been investigated using the all-electron full-potential linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method based on the density functional theory (DFT). For the exchange-correlation potential, local-density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) have been used to calculate theoretical lattice parameters, bulk modulus, and its pressure derivative. The present results are in good agreement with available theoretical and experimental data. The three independent elastic constants (C-11, C-12 and C-44) are also reported. From electronic band structure and density of states (DOSs), it is found that SrLiH3 is an insulator characterized by an indirect gap of 3.48 eV, while SrPdH3 is metallic with a calculated DOSs at Fermi energy of 0.745 states/eV-unit cell. Poisson's ratio (sigma), Young's modulus (E), shear modulus (G), anisotropy factor (A), average sound velocities (upsilon(m)) and density (rho) of these compounds are also estimated for the first time. The Debye temperature is deduced from the average sound velocity. Variation of elastic constants and bulk modulus of these compounds as a function of pressure is also reported. Pressure and thermal effects on some macroscopic properties are predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model.