Browsing by Author "Durandurdu, Murat"

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Pressure-Driven Structural Evolution of Amorphous InN
(Elsevier, 2025) Durandurdu, Murat
Through constant-pressure ab initio simulations, we have uncovered high-pressure phase transformations in amorphous indium nitride for the first time. Our results reveal a distinct two-step progression under compression. Initially, a polyamorphic transition occurs, where the low-density amorphous (LDA) phase transforms into a high-density amorphous (HDA) phase. This HDA structure remains stable in some pressure range and then crystallization initiates, leading to a rocksalt configuration. Upon decompression, the HDA phase reverts to an amorphous network with a slightly higher density and coordination number than the initial LDA state.
Pressure-Induced Quenchable Superhard Tetrahedral Amorphous Phase of BC4N
(Wiley, 2025) Durandurdu, Murat
The high-pressure behavior of an amorphous boron carbon nitride (BC4N) composition is investigated using constant-pressure ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. A first-order phase transformation into a tetrahedral amorphous phase with a high fraction of sp3 bonding is observed. This tetrahedral phase is quenchable and exhibits ultra-high incompressibility and a high Vickers hardness (46 GPa), placing it firmly in the category of superhard materials, comparable to tetrahedral amorphous carbon. Tetrahedral amorphous BC4N demonstrates semiconducting behavior with a narrow bandgap of 0.4 eV, making it suitable for applications requiring both mechanical robustness and moderate electronic conductivity. Thermodynamic analyses confirm the likelihood of a first-order sp2-to-sp3 transition, suggesting that such a transformation could occur around 29 GPa under experimental conditions.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
Stoichiometric Amorphous Boron Carbide (BC)
(Springer, 2020) Yildiz, Tevhide Ayca; Durandurdu, Murat
In this work, a stoichiometric amorphous boron carbide (a-BC) network is constructed via an ab initio molecular dynamics approach. Its structural, electrical and mechanical features are reconnoitered in details and compared with those of turbostratic BC and some important graphite-like amorphous materials. Our computer-generated structure exhibits strong chemical disorder as seen in turbostratic BC. However, it has mixed sp(2) and sp(3) hybridizations and the average coordination number of B and C atoms is projected to be similar to 3.22 and 3.46, correspondingly. Consequently, a-BC appears to be structurally different from turbostratic BC and graphite-like amorphous systems. a-BC is semiconductor having a theoretical band gap of similar to 0.20 eV. The bulk, Young's and shear moduli are estimated as similar to 105, 142 and 56 GPa, respectively. Its Vickers hardness is calculated to be about 7-8.5 GPa. a-BC is anticipated to be electronically and mechanically parallel to amorphous boron carbonitride.
Citation - WoS: 6
Citation - Scopus: 5
Amorphous Boron Carbide From Ab Initio Simulations
(Elsevier, 2020) Yildiz, Tevhide Ayca; Durandurdu, Murat
An amorphous boron carbide (a-B4C) model is generated by means of ab-initio molecular dynamics calculations within a generalized gradient approximation and its structural, mechanical and electrical features are discussed in details. The mean coordination number of B and C atoms is estimated to be 5.29 and 4.17, respectively. The pentagonal pyramid-like motifs for B atoms, having sixfold coordination, are the main building units in a-B4C and some of which involve with the development of B-12 icosahedra. On the other hand, the fourfold-coordinated units are the leading configurations for C atoms. Surprisingly the formation of C-C bonds is found to be less favorable in the noncrystalline network, compared to the crystal. a-B4C is a semiconducting material having an energy band gap considerably less than that of the crystal. A noticeably decrease in the mechanical properties of B4C is observed by amorphization. Nonetheless a-B4C is categorized as a hard material due to its high Vickers hardness of about 24 GPa.
Citation - WoS: 1
Amorphous GaN: Polyamorphism and Crystallization at High Pressure
(Elsevier, 2024) Durandurdu, Murat
Employing constant pressure ab initio simulations, we have shed light on the previously unknown high-pressure behavior of amorphous gallium nitride. Our findings reveal a two-step transformation sequence under pressure. The initial transition involves a polyamorphic transformation from a low-density amorphous (LDA) phase to a high-density amorphous (HDA) phase with an average coordination number of 5.4. Upon pressure release, the HDA state partially reverts to a denser amorphous network with a higher coordination number (4.34) compared to the original LDA phase. Further pressurization triggers the crystallization of the HDA state into a rocksalt structure. Remarkably, the electronic structure of the amorphous forms of GaN exhibits insignificant sensitivity to changes in coordination number, maintaining a band gap of approximately 1.7-2.0 eV across all phases.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
Phase Transition of ZrN Under Pressure
(Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2019) Durandurdu, Murat
A first principles constant pressure approach is carried out to probe the high-pressure behaviour of the rocksalt (RS) structured zirconium nitride (ZrN). The existence of first order reconstructive phase transition from the RS crystal to a CsCl-type crystal is, for the first time, established throughout the simulations. Upon decompression, the CsCl type phase converts back to the original RS structure by following the same transformation mechanism, suggesting a reversible phase transformation in ZrN. The RS-to-CsCl phase change is additionally considered through the thermodynamic theorem and projected to take place at around 225 GPa in experiments. The structural parameters and mechanical properties computed are found to be comparable with some of the previous findings. Additionally, we investigate the response of ZrN to uniaxial compression and tension stresses. The uniaxial stresses initially lead to a tetragonal modification of the simulation box having an I4/mmm symmetry and subsequently structural failure that is expected to occurs at about -10 and 15 GPa in experiments.
Citation - WoS: 5
Citation - Scopus: 5
Amorphous Silicon Hexaboride at High Pressure
(Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2020) Durandurdu, Murat
We investigate the pressure-induced structural phase transformation of amorphous silicon hexaboride (a-SiB6) using a constant pressure first principles approach. a-SiB6 is found to undergo a gradual phase transformation to a high-density amorphous phase (HDA) in which the average coordination number of both B and Si atoms is about 6. The HDA phase consists of differently coordinated motifs ranging from 4 to 8. B-12 icosahedra are found to persist during compression of a-SiB6 and the structural modifications primarily occur around Si atoms and in the regions linking pentagonal pyramid-like configurations to each other. Upon pressure release, an amorphous structure, similar to the uncompressed one, is recovered, indicating a reversible amorphous-to-amorphous phase change in a-SiB6. When the electronic structure is considered, the HDA phase is perceived to have a wider forbidden band gap than the uncompressed one.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
Amorphous Boron Arsenide
(Elsevier, 2019) Durandurdu, Murat
The short-range order and electrical properties of amorphous boron arsenide (BAs) are evaluated by means of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The amorphous model is obtained from the fast solidification of the BAs melt and consists of B-rich and As-rich domains. The average coordination number of B- and As-atoms are found as 4.97 and 3.34, respectively. B-atoms have a tendency to form pentagonal pyramidal-like configurations as commonly seen in boron or boron rich materials. Yet B-12 molecules do not develop in the system but the formation of a B-10 cluster is perceived in the network. On the other hand, As-atoms have a trend to structure chain-like motifs and four-membered rings. Amorphization yield about 31% volume expansion in the amorphous network. All these findings reveal that the model shows strong chemical disorder and its short-range order is considerably different than that of the crystal. Amorphization-induced metallization is proposed for BAs.
Citation - WoS: 2
Citation - Scopus: 2
A First Principles Study of Amorphous and Crystalline Silicon Tetraboride
(Elsevier Science SA, 2021) Karacaoglu, Ayseguel Ozlem; Durandurdu, Murat
Using first principles simulations, we generate an amorphous silicon tetraboride (SiB4) network from the melt and compare it structurally, mechanically and electrically with the crystal. Surprisingly the amorphous form is found to be energetically more favourable than the crystal. In both phases, the average coordination number of B atoms is comparable but that of Si atom is considerably different. Si atoms have a trend to structure in higher coordinated motifs in the amorphous configuration compared to the crystal. A close examination reveals that pentagonal pyramid-like arrangements are the leading units for B atoms in the noncrystalline state as in the crystal and some of which involve B12 and B11Si type molecules. Both phases exhibit a semiconducting character but have a significantly different band gap value (0.16 eV vs 0.88 eV). The Bulk modulus and Vicker's hardness are predicted to be similar to 151 GPa and 16.1-17.4 GPa for the amorphous network and to be similar to 161 GPa and 18.1-20.2 GPa for the crystal, correspondingly.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 4
Nanosegregated Amorphous AlBN2 Alloy
(Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2016) Durandurdu, Murat
We use ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to create an amorphous AlBN2 model and find that it consists of nanosegregated two-dimensional hexagonal BN-like and tetrahedral AlN-like domains. These domains are somewhat homogenously distributed in the network. There exist no chemical disorder and Al-B bonding. Amorphous AlBN2 is a semiconductor having a theoretical band gap energy of approximate to 2.24eV, larger than that of amorphous AlN and BN systems. This amorphous nitride might find some applications as an electronic material.
Citation - WoS: 10
Citation - Scopus: 11
Liquid Boron and Amorphous Boron: An Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Study
(Elsevier, 2015) Durandurdu, Murat
The atomic structure of liquid and amorphous boron is investigated using an ab initio molecular dynamics technique. Liquid and amorphous states are found to have notably different microstructures and an average coordination number. Ideal and defective pentagonal pyramidal polyhedrons are the primary building unit of liquid boron but B-12 icosahedra do not exist in the liquid state. During the rapid solidification, more ideal pentagonal pyramids develop progressively, resulting into a gradual formation of B-12 icosahedra. On the basis of our findings, the atomic packing of pure amorphous boron is proposed to be somewhat close to that of the alpha-rhombohedral phase in contrast to the previous suggestions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 1
Amorphous Zircon at High Pressure
(Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, 2021) Bolat, Suleyman; Durandurdu, Murat
The high-pressure behavior of a very low-density amorphous zircon model having Zr (Si) coordination of 5.6 (4.02) is explored by ab initio simulations. Two consecutive pressure-induced phase modifications are proposed for this material. The first transition is from a very low-density amorphous state to a dense amorphous state having Zr (Si) coordination of 7.3 (4.5). The second one is from the dense phase to a high-density amorphous structure with Zr and Si coordination numbers of about 8 and 5.5, correspondingly. Both phase changes proceed progressively. The first phase transformation is irreversible whist the second one is reversible. The Voronoi polyhedron analysis reveals the presence of polyhedron of the zircon crystal (<0,4,4,0>), the zirconia baddaliyette phase (<1,3,3,0>) and the zirconia cotunnite state (<0,3,6,0>) around Zr atoms in the amorphous states formed on both compression and decompression, meaning that the amorphous configurations consist of a mixed state of them.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
High-Pressure Phase Transitions of TiN: An Ab Initio Constant Pressure Study
(Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2015) Durandurdu, Murat
An ab initio constant pressure molecular dynamics technique is carried out to explore the behaviour of rock salt-structured titanium nitride (TiN) under pressure. Two successive phase transformations are successfully observed in the dynamical simulations. The first one is an isostructural phase transition accompanied by an anomalous volume compression without any symmetry breaking. The second one is a reconstructive phase transformation into a CsCl-type structure. For the first time, the previously proposed two-phase transformations for TiN are confirmed through the simulations.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
Amorphous Silicon Hexaboride: A First-Principles Study
(Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2018) Durandurdu, Murat
We report for the first time the atomic structure, electronic structure and mechanical properties of amorphous silicon hexaboride (a-SiB6) based on first-principles molecular dynamics simulation. The a-SiB6 model is generated from the melt and predominantly consists of pentagonal pyramid-like configurations and B-12 icosahedral molecules, similar to what has been observed in most boron-rich materials. The mean coordination number of B and Si atoms are 5.47 and 4.55, respectively. The model shows a semiconducting behaviour with a theoretical bandgap energy of 0.3eV. The conduction tail states are found to be highly localised and hence the n-type doping is suggested to be more difficult than the p-type doping for a-SiB6. The bulk modulus and Vickers hardness of a-SiB6 are estimated to be about 118 and 13-17GPa, respectively.
Citation - WoS: 16
Citation - Scopus: 16
Hexagonal Nanosheets in Amorphous BN: A First Principles Study
(Elsevier Science Bv, 2015) Durandurdu, Murat
Amorphous boron nitrite is modeled by means of first principles molecular dynamics simulations and found to be almost chemically ordered in a stark contrast to the previous predictions. Its average coordination number is 2.97. The main building unit of the amorphous network is hexagonal rings as in the most stable boron nitrite phase but chain-like structures and tetragonal-like rings also exist in amorphous network. The model consists of partially hexagonal nanosheets and hence it is not entirely disordered. Amorphous boron nitrite has a band gap energy of about 2.0 eV. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tuning Properties of Amorphous Boron Via Hydrogenation: An Ab Initio Study
(Elsevier, 2026) Durandurdu, Murat
Ab initio simulations are employed to investigate the structural, mechanical, and electronic properties of hydrogenated amorphous boron (a-B:H) across a range of hydrogen concentrations (approximate to 6-21 at.%). The results indicate that pentagonal-like boron clusters constitute the primary structural motifs. The bonding environment consists of both B-H terminal bonds and B-H-B bridging bonds, with the fraction of bridging bonds ranging from 10 % to 16 %. Increasing the hydrogen content leads to a reduction in density and bulk modulus, accompanied by a systematic widening of the electronic band gap. These results demonstrate that hydrogen incorporation profoundly modifies the atomic structure, softens the network, and enhances the semiconducting character of a-B:H, highlighting the tunability of properties in boron-based amorphous materials.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
Ab Initio Simulation of Amorphous BC3
(Elsevier, 2020) Durandurdu, Murat
We report the structural and electrical properties of an amorphous BC3 model based on ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The amorphous network is achieved from the melt and has a layer-like structure consisting of mainly hexagonal (six membered) rings as in the crystal. However, the distribution of boron atoms in the noncrystalline configuration appears to differ significantly from that of boron atoms in the crystal. The network is a solid solution and has randomly distributed nanosized graphene-like domains at each layer. Boron atoms have a tendency to form more overcoordinated defects involving with boron-boron homopolar bond(s). The mean coordination of boron and carbon atoms is 3.2 and 3.0, respectively. Interestingly the amorphous configuration is found to have a slightly higher density and bulk modulus than the crystal, which are attributed to the existence of overcoordinated units in the amorphous state. Based on the localization of the band tail states, noncrystalline BC3 is speculated to be a semiconducting material.
Citation - WoS: 7
Citation - Scopus: 7
Atomic Structure of Amorphous CDO from First Principles Simulations
(Elsevier Science Bv, 2015) Durandurdu, Murat
Amorphous CdO (a-CdO) is obtained by cooling the liquid at a sufficiently fast cooling rate using first-principles simulations. The topology of the amorphous model is examined using a variety of analyzing techniques. The local structural arrangement of a-CdO is found to be partially similar to that of crystalline phase. The model is chemically ordered but consists of a significant amount of coordination defects. a-CdO is predicted to be a semiconductor with a band gap energy less than the crystalline state. It is likely that a-CdO might serve as a novel electronic material. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Bor Esaslı Nano Yapıların Modellenmesi ve İncelenmesi
(Abdullah Gül Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2022) Tahaoğlu, Duygu; Durandurdu, Murat; Alkan, Fahri
Polyhedral boron clusters and their applications have been subject to research in many fields such as medicine, materials science, catalytic applications, energy studies, etc. These molecules owe their popularity to their exceptional 3D stable structures, as well as their various sought-after properties in many applications. This doctoral thesis was prepared within the focus of a computational investigation of different polyhedral borane and carborane clusters by using DFT methods. The results of our studies were reported in two main chapters (Chapters 3 and 4). In the first part (Chapter 3), theoretical evaluation of relative stabilities and electronic structure for [BnXn]2− clusters were provided. The structural and electronic characteristics of [BnXn]2− clusters were examined by comparison with the [B12X12]2− counterparts with a focus on the substituent effects (X = H, F, Cl, Br, CN, BO, OH, NH2). The effects of the substituents were discussed in relation to their mesomeric (±M) and inductive (±I) effects. The results showed that the icosahedral barrier can be reduced through substitution by destabilizing the [B12X12]2−cluster with symmetry-reducing ligands or ligands with +M effects rather than stabilizing the larger clusters. In the second part (Chapter 4), the investigation of the photophysical properties of carborane-containing luminescent systems was presented. The o-CB-Anth system is known to exhibit a dual-emission property by radiating in the visible region from two low energy conformations with local excited (LE) and hybridized local and charge transfer (HLCT) characters, however, it shows a very low emission quantum yield in solution state similar to many other CB-luminescent systems. In this section, the excited-state potential energy surface (PES) of o-CB-Anth and o-CB-Pent were investigated in detail and the effect of a low-lying CT on the low quantum yield was discussed.
Citation - WoS: 5
Citation - Scopus: 5
Structural and Electronic Transformations of GeSe2 Glass Under High Pressures Studied by X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy
(Natl Acad Sciences, 2024) Mijit, Emin; Durandurdu, Murat; Rodrigues, Joao Elias F. S.; Trapananti, Angela; Rezvani, S. Javad; Rosa, Angelika Dorothea; Di Cicco, Andrea
Pressure-induced transformations in an archetypal chalcogenide glass (GeSe2) have been investigated up to 157 GPa by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Ge and Se K-edge XAS data allowed simultaneous tracking of the correlated local structural and electronic changes at both Ge and Se sites. Thanks to the simultaneous analysis of extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) signals of both edges, reliable quantitative information about the evolution of the first neighbor Ge-Se distribution could be obtained. It also allowed to account for contributions of the Ge-Ge and Se-Se bond distributions (chemical disorder). The low-density to high-density amorphous-amorphous transformation was found to occur within 10 to 30 GPa pressure range, but the conversion from tetrahedral to octahedral coordination of the Ge sites is completed above similar to 80 GPa. No convincing evidence of another high-density amorphous state with coordination number larger than six was found within the investigated pressure range. The number of short Ge-Ge and Se-Se "wrong" bonds was found to increase upon pressurization. Experimental XAS results are confirmed by MD simulations, indicating the increase of chemical disorder under high pressure.