On the heat capacities of M2AlC (M=Ti,V,Cr) ternary carbides

In this paper, we report on the heat capacities cp of bulk polycrystalline samples of Ti2AlC, V2AlC, and Cr2AlC in the 3–260K temperature range. Given the structural and chemical similarities of these compounds it is not surprising that the cp’s and their temperature dependencies were quite similar. Nevertheless, at all temperatures the heat capacity of Cr2AlC was higher than the other two. The density of states at the Fermi level were 3.9, 7.5, and 14.6(eVunitcell)−1 for Ti2AlC, V2AlC, and Cr2AlC, respectively. The results obtained are analyzed using the Debye and Einstein model approximations for cp. Good description of cp is obtained if one assumes that nine phonon modes vibrate according to the Debye model approximation whereas the remaining 3 of 12 modes expected for M2AlC formula unit fulfill an Einstein-like phonon vibration pattern. Debye temperatures θD describing acoustic phonon and Einstein temperature θE describing optical phonon contributions have been estimated for the studied compounds. The...