Monte Carlo Study of CO-NO Catalytic Surface Reaction Including CO-CO Repulsion

The CO-NO reaction on a catalytic surface is studied by using Langmuir-Hinshclwood thermal mechanism with Monte Carlo computer simulation. In this model, a novel concept of CO CO repulsion is introduced, which has experimental evidence due to the formation of dipoles when these molecules are chemisorbed on the surface. The system is investigated by applying two approaches of NO dissociation. In the first ca.se, NO always decomposes into N and O before adsorption on the surface, In the second case, NO adsorbs on the surface molecularly and then dissociates into N and O if a vacancy is present in its adjacent neighbourhood. The steady state reactive window （i.e. the continuous production of CO2 and N2） is obtained only with the diffusion of N-atoms on the surface, which extends with CO-CO repulsion in the first, case. Itowever, in the second case, reactive window is obtained with CO-CO repulsion alone, The reactive window width in this case is reasonably large. The first-order phase transition is eliminated in both the cases with CO-CO repulsion.     

Influence of Pb adatom on adsorption of oxygen molecules on Pb(111) surface: a first-principles study

Using first-principles calculations, we systematically study the influence of Pb adatom on the adsorption and the dissociation of oxygen molecules on Pb(111) surface, to explore the effect of a point defect on the oxidation of the Pb(111) surface. We find that when an oxygen molecule is adsorbed near an adatom on the Pb surface, the molecule will be dissociated without any obvious barriers, and the dissociated O atoms bond with both the adatom and the surface Pb atoms. The adsorption energy in this situation is much larger than that on a clean Pb surface. Besides, for an adsorbed oxygen molecule on a clean Pb surface, a diffusing Pb adatom can also change its adsorption state and enlarge the adsorption energy for O, but it does not make the oxygen molecule dissociated. And in this situation, there is a molecule-like PbO2 cluster formed on the Pb surface.     

First-principles study on anatase TiO2（101） surface adsorption of NO

In this paper, the stable structure and the electronic and optical properties of nitric oxide （NO） adsorption on the anatase TiO2 （101） surface are studied using the plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential method, which is based on the density functional theory. NO adsorption on the surface is weak when the outermost layer terminates on twofold coordinated oxygen atoms, but it is remarkably enhanced on the surface containing O vacancy defects. The higher the concentration of oxygen vacancy defects, the stronger the adsorption is. The adsorption energies are 3.4528 eV （N end adsorption）, 2.6770 eV （O end adsorption）, and 4.1437 eV （horizontal adsorption）. The adsorption process is exothermic, resulting in a more stable adsorption structure. Furthermore, O vacancy defects on the TiO2 （101） surface significantly contribute to the absorption of visible light in a relatively low-energy region. A new absorption peak in the low-energy region, corresponding to an energy of 0.9 eV, is observed. However, the TiO2 （101） surface structure exhibits weak absorption in the low-energy region of visible light after NO adsorption.     

Effect of oxygen vacancy defect on the magnetic properties of Co-doped ZnO

The influence of oxygen vacancy on the magnetism of Co-doped ZnO has been investigated by the first-principles calculations.It is suggested that oxygen vacancy and its location play crucial roles on the magnetic properties of Co-doped ZnO.The exchange coupling mechanism should account for the magnetism in Co-doped ZnO with oxygen vacancy and the oxygen vacancy is likely to be close to the Co atom.The oxygen vacancy (doping electrons) might be available for carrier mediation but is localized with a certain length and can strengthen the ferromagnetic exchange interaction between Co atoms.     

A density functional theory study on the adsorption of CO and O2 on Cu-terminated Cu2O （111） surface

The adsorptions of CO and 02 molecules individually on the stoichiometric Cu-terminatcd Cu20 （111） surface are investigated by first-principles calculations on the basis of the density functional theory. The calculated results indicate that the CO molecule preferably coordinates to the Cu2 site through its C atom with an adsorption energy of-1.69 eV, whereas the 02 molecule is most stably adsorbed in a tilt type with one O atom coordinating to the Cu2 site and the other O atom coordinating to the Cul site, and has an adsorption energy of -1.97 eV. From the analysis of density of states, it is observed that Cu 3d transfers electrons to 2π orbital of the CO molecule and the highest occupied 5σ orbital of the CO molecule transfers electrons to the substrate. The sharp band of Cu 4s is delocalized when compared to that before the CO molecule adsorption, and overlaps substantially with bands of the adsorbed CO molecule. There is a broadening of the 2π orbital of the 02 molecule because of its overlapping with the Cu 3d orbital, indicating that strong 3d-2π interactions are involved in the chemisorption of the 02 molecule on the surface.     

Effects of O defects on adsorption of small Ag clusterson a MgO(001) surface

The interaction of Ag atoms with a defective MgO(001) surface is systematically studied based on density functional theory. The Ag clusters are deposited on neutral and charged oxygen vacancies of the MgO(001) surface. The structures of Ag clusters take the shape of simple models of two- or three-dimensional (2D and 3D) metal particles deposited on the MgO surface. When the nucleation of the metal clusters occurs in the F_s (missing neutral O) centre, the interaction with the substrate is considerably stronger than that in the F_s⁺ (missing O^- ) centre. The results show that the adsorption of Ag atoms on the MgO surface with oxygen vacancy is stronger than on a clear MgO surface, thereby attracting more Ag atoms to cluster together, and forming atomic islands.     

Adsorption and Reaction of CO on （100） Surface of SrTiO3 by Density Function Theory Calculation

Adsorption and reaction of CO on two possible terminations of SrTiO3 （100） surface are investigated by the first-principles calculation of plane wave ultrasoft pseudopotentiai based on the density function theory. The adsorption energy, Mulliken population analysis, density of states （DOS） and electronic density difference of CO on SrTiO3 （100） surface, which have never been investigated before as far as we know are performed. The calculated results reveal that the Ti-CO orientation is the most stable configuration and the adsorption energy （0.449eV） is quite small. CO molecules adsorb weakly on the SrTiO3 （100） surface, there is predominantly electrostatic attraction between CO and the surface rather than a chemical bonding mechanism.     

Density functional theory study of formaldehyde adsorption and decomposition on Co-doped defective CeO_2(110) surface

Formaldehyde as an air pollutant to adverse health effects for humanity has been getting attention. The adsorption and dissociation of formaldehyde(HCHO) on the Co_xCe_(1-x_O_(2-δ)(110) surface were investigated by the density functional theory(DFT) calculations. We calculated the oxygen vacancy formation energy as the function of its site around dopant Co in detail. The results showed that Co doping was accompanied by compensating oxygen hole spontaneous formation.The adsorption configurations and bindings of HCHO at different locations on the Co_xCe_(1-x)O_2(110) were presented.Four possible pathways of oxidation of formaldehyde on the catalytic surface were explored. The results suggested that formaldehyde dissociation at different adsorption sites on the doped CeO_2(110) — first forming dioxymethylene(CH_2O_2)intermediate, and then decomposing into H_2O, H_2, CO_2, and CO molecules. It was found that the presence of cobalt and oxygen vacancy significantly prompted the surface activity of CeO_2.     

Magnetic behaviors of cerium oxide-based thin films deposited using electrochemical method

Zn and Co multi-doped CeO2 thin films have been prepared using an anodic electrochemical method. The structures and magnetic behaviors are characterized by several techniques, in which the oxygen states in the lattice and the absorptive oxygen bonds at the surface are carefully examined. The absorptive oxygen bond is about 50% of the total oxygen bond by using a semi-quantitative method. The value of actual stoichiometry δ is close to 2. The experimental results indicate that the thin films are of a cerium oxide-based solid solution with few oxygen vacancies in the lattice and many absorptive oxygen bonds at the surface. Week ferromagnetic behaviors were evidenced by observed M–H hysteresis loops at room temperature. Furthermore, an evidence of relative ferromagnetic contributions was revealed by the temperature dependence of magnetization. It is believed that the ferromagnetic contributions exhibited in the M–H loops originate from the absorptive oxygen on the surface rather than the oxygen vacancies in the lattice.     

A density functional theory study on the adsorption of CO and O₂ on Cu-terminated Cu₂O（111） surface

The adsorptions of CO and O2 molecules individually on the stoichiometric Cu-terminated Cu2O(111) surface are investigated by first-principles calculations on the basis of the density functional theory.The calculated results indicate that the CO molecule preferably coordinates to the Cu2 site through its C atom with an adsorption energy of -1.69 eV,whereas the O2 molecule is most stably adsorbed in a tilt type with one O atom coordinating to the Cu2 site and the other O atom coordinating to the Cu1 site,and has an adsorption energy of -1.97 eV.From the analysis of density of states,it is observed that Cu 3d transfers electrons to 2π orbital of the CO molecule and the highest occupied 5σ orbital of the CO molecule transfers electrons to the substrate.The sharp band of Cu 4s is delocalized when compared to that before the CO molecule adsorption,and overlaps substantially with bands of the adsorbed CO molecule.There is a broadening of the 2π orbital of the O2 molecule because of its overlapping with the Cu 3d orbital,indicating that strong 3d-2π interactions are involved in the chemisorption of the O2 molecule on the surface.     

Phase Diagram Body-Centredof Catalytic Oxidation of CO on the Surface-Subsurface of a Body-Centred Cubic Structure with Eley-Rideal Process： A Monte Carlo Simulation

Monte Carlo simulation is used to explore the effects of the Eley-Rideal (ER) process on the phase diagram of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) type monomer--dimer (CO-O2) catalytic reaction on the surface and subsurface of a body-centred cubic structure, which extends to only two layers in the z-direction. The dimer (O2) is adsorbed in such a way that it takes one surface site whereas the second site is from the subsurface. For this mechanism, an interesting situation develops. The production rate of CO2 is found to be consistent with experiment. The qualitative trend of the surface oxygen coverage is not consistent with the experimental situation in one model while it is found to be consistent with that in another model, i.e. the coverage of surface oxygen decreases slowly with increase of concentration of CO (yco). Moreover, the production of CO2 can be predicted in the form of a mathematical relation.     

Effect of （2 ×1） Surface Reconstruction on Elasticity of a Silicon Nano-Plate

A semi-continuum approach is developed to describe the effect of （2 ×1） surface reconstruction on the elastic modulus of the silicon nano-plate. Young＇s moduli of a （001） silicon nano-plate along the high-symmetry [100] direction are obtained with and without considering （2 × 1） surface reconstruction. The approach predicts that the nano-plate with unreconstructed （001） surface is elastically softer than the bulk while it exhibits the opposite behaviour with （2 × 1） reconstructed surface. On the （001） surface, the （2 × 1） reconstructed surface dominates the plate as the thickness of the plate scaling decreases to several tens of nanometre. Whether the nano-plate is softer or stiffer depends on bond loss, bond saturation and direction of bond alignment, which have major impacts on the mechanics of the nano-plate.     

Vacancy effect on the doping of silicon nanowires:A first-principles study

The influence of vacancy defect on the doping of silicon nanowires is systematically studied by the first-principles calculations. The atomic structures and electronic properties of vacancies and vacancy–boron(vacancy–phosphor) complexes in H-passivated silicon nanowire with a diameter of 2.3 nm are explored. The results of geometry optimization indicate that a central vacancy can exist stably, while the vacancy at the edge of the nanowire undergoes a local surface reconstruction, which results in the extradition of the vacancy out of the nanowire. Total-energy calculations indicate that the central vacancy tends to form a vacancy–dopant defect pair. Further analysis shows that n-type doping efficiency is strongly inhibited by the unintentional vacancy defect. In contrast, the vacancy defect has little effect on p-type doping.Our results suggest that the vacancy defect should be avoided during the growth and the fabrication of devices.     

Improved Surface Characteristics and Contact Performance of Epitaxial p-AlGaN by a Chemical Treatment Process

The comparative study of epitaxial 380-run-thick p-Al0.091 Ga0.909 N materials without and with special surface chemical treatment is systematically carried out. After the treatment process, the deep level luminous peak in the 10 K photoluminescence spectrum is eliminated due to the decrease of surface nitrogen vacancy VN related defective sites, while the surface root-mean-square roughness in atomic force microscopy measurement is decreased from 0.395nm to 0.229nm by such a surface preparation method. Furthermore, the performance of surface contact with Ni/Au bilayer metal fihns is obviously improved with the reduction of the Schottky barrier height of 55meV. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） results show a notable surface element content change after the treatment which is considered to be the cause of the above-mentioned surface characteristics improvement.     

Static Threshold Pressure Gradient Characteristics of Liquid Influenced by Boundary Wettability

We propose an experimental setup to measure the threshold pressure gradient （TPG） of microchannels with different wettability surfaces by the static method in microchannels with diameters from 20 μm to 320 μm, and compare the TPG of microchannels with adsorption of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide （CTAB） with that without CTAB adsorption. The results show the existence of TPG in microchannels. The TPG of microchannels increases with decreasing hydrodynamic diameter, and the relation between TPG and diameter is in agreement with the single-log normalization. The TPG of a microchannel with CTAB adsorption decreases obviously as compared with the microchannel without CTAB adsorption. The TPG of microchannels with different wettabilities of boundary surface are different, and the resistance of liquid flow can be reduced by changing the wettability of boundary surfaces.     

Strain-Driven Formation of Nanostripes on In/Si（113） Surface

Periodic nanostripe arrays are observed on In/Si（113） surface using scanning tunneling microscopy. The stripe superstructures are identified as N × 1 reconstructions elongating in [211] or [121] direction and consisting of one vacancy line, one Si adatom row, and N - 2 In rows, in which N = 5 is predominant. The vacancy line formation relieves the strain induced by the Si adatom row and In rows, and plays an important role in stabilizing the stripe structures. The stability of nanostripe structures is demonstrated by analyzing the strain-mediated interaction of vacancy lines in the framework of the Frenkel-Kontorova model, which indicates that the predominant vacancy line period of N = 5 corresponds to the minimum Frenkel Kontorova energy.     

Influence of Oxygen Vacancy on Transport Property in Perovskite Oxide Heterostructures

Effect of oxygen vacancy on transport property of perovskite microstructures is studied theoretically. Compared with calculated and measured I-V curves, it is revealed that electron conduction plays an important role in the oxygen nonstoichiometry perovskite heterostructures even with hole-doped or un-doped material due to the oxygen vacancies. In addition, a detailed understanding of the influence of oxygen vacancy concentration and temperature on the conduction characteristics of oxide heterojunction with both forward and reverse biases is obtained by calculation.     

Multiple—Scattering of Near—Edge x—ray Absorption Fine Structure of Sulphur—Passivated InP（100） Surface

We use the multiple-scattering cluster method to calculated the sulphur 1s near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) of S-passivated InP(100) surface.The physical origins of the resonances in the NEXAFS have been unveiled.It is shown that the most important resonance is attributed to the photoelectron scattering between the central sulphur and the nearest indium atoms.The studies show that two S-S dimers with the bond lengths of 2.05A and 3.05A coexist in the surface,meanwhile the bridge and antibridge site adsorption of single S could not be ruled out.We support the scanning tunnelling microscopy result that the S-passivated InP(100) surface exhibits significant discorder.     

Strong Surface Diffusion Mediated Glancing-Angle Deposition： Growth, Recrystallization and Reorientation of Tin Nanorods

Different from usual glancing-angle deposition where low surface diffusion is necessary to form nanorods, strong surface diffusion mediated glancing-angle deposition is exemplified by growing tin nanorod films on both silicon and glass substrates simultaneously via thermal evaporation. During growth, the nanorods were simultaneously baked by the high-temperature evaporator, and therefore re-crystallized into single crystals in consequence of strong surface diffusion. The monocrystalline tin nanorods have a preferred orientation perpendicular to the substrate surface, which is quite different from the usual uniformly oblique nanorods without recrystallization.     

Oxidation degree dependent adsorption of ssDNA onto graphene-based surface

DNA/GO composite plays a significant role in the research field of biotechnology and nanotechnology, and attracts a great deal of interest. However, it is still unclear how the oxidation degree of the graphene-based surface affects the adsorption process of single-strand DNA(ss DNA). In this paper, based on the molecular dynamics simulations, we find that ss DNA molecule is absorbed on the GO surface in the most stable state with the oxidation degree around 15%. The microscopic mechanism is attributed to the van Der Walls and the electrostatic interactions between the ss DNA molecule and the graphene-based surface, which is accompanied with the π–π stacking and hydrogen bond formation. The number of π–π stacking between ss DNA and GO reaches the maximum value when the oxidation degree is around 15% among all the GO surfaces. Our simulation results also reveal the coexistence of stretched and curved configurations as well as the adsorption orientation of ss DNA on the GO surface. Furthermore, it is found that the absorbed ss DNA molecules are more likely to move on the graphene-based surface of low oxidation degree, especially on pristine graphene. Our work provides the physics picture of ss DNA's physisorption dynamics onto graphene-based surface and it is helpful in designing DNA/GO nanomaterials.