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Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Determination of Thermodynamic Properties of Alkaline Earth-liquid Metal Alloys Using the Electromotive Force Technique
Published on: November 3, 2017
Tipping the Balance Between the bcc and fcc Phase Within the Alkali and Coinage Metal Groups
Andrés Robles-Navarro1, Paul Jerabek2, Peter Schwerdtfeger1
1Centre for Theoretical Chemistry and Physics, The New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study (NZIAS), Massey University Albany, Private Bag 102904, Auckland, 0745, New Zealand.
Abstract:
Why the Group 1 elements crystallize in the body-centered cubic (bcc) structure, and the iso-electronic Group 11 elements in the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure, remains a mystery. Here we show that a delicate interplay between many-body effects, vibrational contributions and dispersion interactions obtained from relativistic density functional theory offers an answer to this long-standing controversy. It also sheds light on the Periodic Table of Crystal Structures. A smooth diffusionless transition through cuboidal lattices gives a detailed insight into the bcc→fcc phase transition for the Groups 1 and 11 elements.
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