Covellite (CuS) is an important mineral sulfide that can be used in many technological applications. It has a simple formula but a complex structure consisting of alternating layers of planar CuS3 triangles and CuS4 tetrahedrons with S-S bonds. Accurate first-principles calculations are performed for covellite structure (CuS), aiming to provide insights about its structural, mechanical and electronic properties and to unveil the nature of its chemical bonding. DFT and DFT+U methods have been used and showed to be sensitive to the correlation treatment (U value). Although it is not possible to extract a universal value of the U, this study indicates that U = 5 eV is an adequate value. The electronic structure analysis shows a significant metallic character due to p(S)-d(Cu) orbital interactions up to Fermi level. The projected density of states indicates that most of the contribution comes from the atomic orbitals in the [001] plane of the covellite, explaining the conductivity anisotropy observed experimentally. Topological analysis of the electron density was performed by means of quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM). Two different topological charges in Cu and S were calculated, confirming an ionic model with mix-charges. This mineral presents ionic degree of ∼ 32%. On the basis of the QTAIM analysis, the covalent character of S-S bond is confirmed, and the favored cleavage of CuS at the [001] surface might be at the Cu-S bond. The S atoms occupy most of the cell volume, and their contributions dominate the crystal compressibility: κ(S) ≈ κ(CuS).

Different polymorphs of Nb2O5 can be obtained depending on the pressure and temperature of calcination leading to different catalytic properties. Two polymorphs of niobia, T-Nb2O5 and B-Nb2O5, have been investigated by means of density functional/plane waves method. The equation of state predicted that B-Nb2O5 phase is more stable than the T-Nb2O5 at low temperature; however at high pressure both phases are stable. These results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. The calculated cohesive energies of 6.63 and 6.59 eV·atom–1 for the B-Nb2O5 and T-Nb2O5, respectively, also corroborate this conclusion, and it can be compared to the experimental value of 9.56 eV atom–1 estimated for the most thermodynamically stable phase. The topological analyses based on quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and electron localization function (ELF) were applied and reveal bonds with large ionic character for both phases. The B-Nb2O5 presented larger stiffness than T-Nb2O5, and the oxygen sites in the T-Nb2O5 are more compressible. The density of states comparison for both structures indicates that B-Nb2O5 has lower concentration of acid sites compared to T-Nb2O5. This result is consistent with the experimental observations that the concentration of Lewis acid sites decreases with the temperature.

Covellite is a metallic layered mineral with rather strong interlayer interaction. Recently, synthesis of covellite nanosheets of 3.2 nm thickness was reported (Du et al 2012 Nat. Commun. 3 1177), which raises the question: 'What is the thinnest possible covellite nanosheet?' Based on density functional/ plane waves calculations, we have shown that graphene-like structure CuS (1L-CuS) is unstable but can be stabilized on a support. Here, however, we demonstrate that the three layered CuS (3L-CuS) with thickness of 0.773 nm (including the atomic radius of the outer plans atoms) is predicted to be intrinsically stable, as confirmed by phonon analysis and Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations, with 3L-CuS about 0.15 eV per CuS less stable than the bulk. Interestingly, the electronic band structure shows metallic character with four bands crossing the Fermi level. The nature of chemical bonding is confirmed by a detailed topological analysis of the electron density.

No abstract