Ab initio study of the thermodynamic properties of nonmagnetic elementary fcc metals: Exchange-correlation-related error bars and chemical trends

Thermal properties of an extensive set of fcc metals (Al, Pb, Cu, Ag, Au, Pd, Pt, Rh, and Ir) have been studied using density-functional theory in combination with the quasiharmonic approximation. Systematic convergence checks have been performed to ensure an accuracy greater than 1 meV/atom in the free energies. Phonon dispersion relations, Gruneisen parameters, free energies, thermal expansions, and heat capacities have been calculated for the two popular exchange-correlation functionals: Local density approximation and Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865 (1996)]. The results are found to be in excellent agreement with both experimental and CALPHAD data.