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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Transition metals of the platinum group (Os, Ir, Pt, Ru, Re, Rh) do not form carbides and nitrides at ambient pressure. Osmium carbide seems to have been synthesized at zero pressure by Kempter and Nadler forty six years ago. According to the authors, OsC crystallizes in WC-type structure and has a hardness equal to 2000 kg mm-2. Up to date, no other experimental confirmation is available. We studied the electronic and mechanical properties of this hypothetical carbide using an approach based on the density-functional theory. We found that the work of the above mentioned authors is sound. The calculated lattice parameters are in good agreement with that given by those authors and a rough estimate also showed that the hardness given by them is reasonable. However, we found that the hexagonal structure of osmium carbide is electronically and mechanically unstable.