Interatomic Potential and Thermodynamic Property of Diatomic Uranium
Potential energy scan for U2 was performed by density functional theory (DFT) method at the B3LYP level in combination with the (ECP80MWB_AVQZ + 2f) basis set. The dissociation energy of U2, after being corrected for the zero-point vibrational energy, is 2.482 eV, which is in good agreement with the experiment. The calculated energy was fit to the typical potential functions of Morse, Lennard-Jones (L-J) and Rydberg. Both the Morse and Rydberg functions are good representatives of the potentials, but the Lennard-Jones function is not. The anharmonicity constant is very small. The anharmonic frequency is 113.99 cm–1. Thermodynamic properties of entropy and heat capacity at 298.2 K – 1500 K were calculated by using DFT-B3LYP computational results and Morse parameters, respectively. The relationship between entropy and temperature was established.