可靠而準確的穩定性第一性原理計算對材料的合成、反應性和性質的研究至關重要，對于探索新的化學空間和難以觀察的相結構來說也很重要。穩定性涉及化學穩定能力（不同化學環境中化學計量組成保持不變的能力）和結構選擇（一定化學計量組成的晶體結構取向）兩個方面，對于已知材料，可用實驗測量生成焓來預測。然而對于新材料和化學組成相同而空間結構不同的材料來說，則不可能或難以用實測生成焓來預測。來自美國的華裔科學家Haowei Peng 和 Jianwei Sun，應用密度泛函理論結合最近開發的強約束-適當規范（strongly constrained and appropriately normed, SCAN）泛函，對材料穩定問題的兩個方面（化學穩定能力&結構選擇）作了研究，發現該方法能對主要化合物群組的穩定性作可信的、有效的預測，而對過渡金屬化合物穩定性預測，雖有進展，但仍是一個挑戰。他們認為，SCAN函數為元素周期表的重要部分提供了一個穩健的模型，為新材料的開發和精細相變研究提供了良方。

Efficient first-principles prediction of solid stability: Towards chemical accuracy

Yubo Zhang,Daniil A. Kitchaev,Julia Yang,Tina Chen,Stephen T. Dacek,Rafael A. Sarmiento-Pérez,Maguel A. L. Marques,Haowei Peng,Gerbrand Ceder,John P. Perdew&Jianwei Sun

AbstractThe question of material stability is of fundamental importance to any analysis of system properties in condensed matter physics and materials science. The ability to evaluate chemical stability, i.e., whether a stoichiometry will persist in some chemical environment, and structure selection, i.e. what crystal structure a stoichiometry will adopt, is critical to the prediction of materials synthesis, reactivity and properties. Here, we demonstrate that density functional theory, with the recently developed strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) functional, has advanced to a point where both facets of the stability problem can be reliably and efficiently predicted for main group compounds, while transition metal compounds are improved but remain a challenge. SCAN therefore offers a robust model for a significant portion of the periodic table, presenting an opportunity for the development of novel materials and the study of fine phase transformations even in largely unexplored systems with little to no experimental data.