Pt based alloys are one of the most important intermetallic materials with widespread applications. In this article, we have investigated the structural stability, elastic modulus, and electronic structure of Pt3M alloys by applying first-principles density functional theory, where M atom covers alkali metals, alkali earth metals, main group metals, and transition metals. The calculated elastic constants and elastic modulus demonstrated that all Pt3M alloys studied in this article are mechanically stable, possess good stability against shear and behavior in a ductile manner. The equilibrium lattice constant and the binding energy are also calculated to reveal the law with the change of elements. In addition, the LDOS and deformation charge density is presented to reveal the structural stability and the extent of charge transfer between Pt and M atoms. These results help us to better understand the physical properties of Pt3M alloys and also indicate that Pt3M alloys provide an extensive selection of intermetallic materials.

Near-infrared (NIR) absorption in solar-control LaB6 nanoparticles (NPs) is derived from the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) at 1.3 eV, and accompanies an unclarified subpeak at 1.8 eV. As an origin of this subpeak, a disk-like particle shape of LaB6 NP has recently been proposed, besides the previously-proposed, milling-derived LaO phase. A series of heating experiments at 200–850 °C in air for LaB6 NPs pulverized with different media beads have been made, followed by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy observations, to clarify that LaB6 NPs oxidizes to amorphous phases B2O3 and La–B–O at 450–600 °C, and crystallize to LaB3O6 at 650–750 °C, without forming LaO or La2O3. Dielectric functions of LaO have been derived by first-principles calculations using sX-LDA, and Mie scattering calculations have been made for various sizes, shapes, and the ensembles, showing that LaO NPs, if existed, should exhibit an excessively-broadened absorption band with a blunt LSPR peak at 2.1 eV buried in several interband-transition absorptions at 1.2–4.0 eV. These analyses confirm that the observed 1.8 eV subpeak could not originate from LaO and support the nonspherical shape of NPs as the origin of the subpeak.