研究目的
To clarify the discrepancy between experimental observations and theoretical predictions regarding the phase transition in liquid nitrogen using SCAN meta-GGA density functional.
研究成果
SCAN meta-GGA provides a more accurate description of the phase transition from molecular to polymeric fluid nitrogen than PBE-GGA, predicting a wider stability range for fluid N2 and a higher amount of threefold coordinated atoms in the polymeric phase, which aligns more closely with experimental observations.
研究不足
The SCAN meta-GGA functional underestimates the bond length and bond energy of an isolated N2 molecule and cannot capture the long-range part of the van der Waals interaction. The study also notes the system-size dependency of the isotherm extrema.