Pt is widely used as a standard in high-pressure high-temperature experiments. The available experimental and theoretical data on Pt thermal stability is not consistent. We address the issue of high-pressure Pt melting by ab initio molecular dynamics. We demonstrate a remarkable consistency of our computed melting curve with the experimental data by N. R. Mitra, D. L. Decker, and H. B. Vanfleet [Phys. Rev. 161, 613 (1967)]. The extrapolation of their data, based on the Simon equation, nearly coincides with our ab initio computed melting curve. We propose the Pt melting curve in the form $P_m\left(\mathrm{kbar}\right)=443.0[{(T/T_m)}^{1.14}-1]$.

• Received 22 February 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.174104