Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
The thermodynamic stability of the three nearly energy degenerate crystal structures of PtO2 is studied here with first-principles-based calculations of their free energies. For P = 0 the α-(CdI2) structure is the thermodynamically stable phase at low temperature, while the β-(CaCl2) structure is stable at high pressure. The β'-(rutile) structure represents an unstable fixed point on the potential energy surface, or is possibly just barely bound. These results reconcile seemingly contradictory findings and answer longstanding questions about PtO2.