Ab initio calculation of thermodynamic, transport, and optical properties of CH2 plastics

This work covers an ab initio calculation of thermodynamic, transport, and optical properties of plastics of the effective composition CH2 at density 0.954 g/cm3 in the temperature range from 5 kK up to 100 kK. The calculation is based on the quantum molecular dynamics, density functional theory, and the Kubo-Greenwood formula. The temperature dependence of the static electrical conductivity σ1DC(T) has a step-like shape: σ1DC(T) grows rapidly for 5 kK ≤ T ≤ 10 kK and is almost constant for 20 kK ≤ T ≤ 60 kK. The additional analysis based on the investigation of the electron density of states (DOS) is performed. The rapid growth of σ1DC(T) at 5 kK ≤ T ≤ 10 kK is connected with the increase of DOS at the electron energy equal to the chemical potential ϵ = μ. The frequency dependence of the dynamic electrical conductivity σ1(ω) at 5 kK has the distinct non-Drude shape with the peak at ω ≈ 10 eV. This behavior of σ1(ω) was explained by the dip at the electron DOS.