Synthesis and Thermodynamic Functions of Ruthenium Ditelluride

Abstract

In this paper, we report the synthesis of crystalline ruthenium ditelluride (RuTe₂) and its thermodynamic properties in the range from 10 to 965 K, evaluated from its isobaric heat capacity C_p determined using calorimetry. At low temperatures, between 6.86 and 335.11 K, the heat capacity of the synthesized material—pure, free of impurities and foreign phases—was determined by adiabatic calorimetry. In the range 315.3–965.3 K, C_p was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The data obtained above 298 K have been used to determine empirical coefficients of the Maier–Kelley and Khodakovsky equations. In the range 10–965 K, we have evaluated the standard thermodynamic functions: heat capacity, entropy, enthalpy increment, and reduced Gibbs energy. At 298.15 K, we have obtained \(C_{p}^{ \circ }\) = 72.43 ± 0.14 J/(K mol), S° = 94.94 ± 0.19 J/(K mol), Н°(298.15 K) − Н°(0) = 14.60 ± 0.03 kJ/mol, and Ф° = 45.97 ± 0.09 J/(K mol). Using the absolute entropy determined by us and data in the literature and handbooks, we have estimated the standard Gibbs energy of formation of RuTe₂: Δ_fG°(RuTe₂, cr, 298.15) = −130.5 ± 2.9 kJ/mol.