Topology of the electron density and cohesive energy of the face-centered cubic transition metals

The topology of the electron density for face-centered cubic transition metals (beta-Co, Ni, Cu, Rh, Pd, Ag, Ir, Pt, and Au) was studied. All of the electron density critical points in the unit cell were systematically calculated. The network nf bond paths describing the atomic connectivity confirms that the crystal graph of these metals is the result of packing octahedra and tetrahedra. A good correlation between the experimental cohesive energy and the value of the electronic charge density at the bond critical point corroborates that this latter parameter provides a measure of the bond strength in the case of the transition metals studied.