Direct observation and control of hydrogen-bond dynamics using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy

Hydrogen(H)-bond dynamics are involved in many elementary processes in chemistry and biology. Because of its fundamental importance, a variety of experimental and theoretical approaches have been employed to study the dynamics in gas, liquid, solid phases, and their interfaces. This review describes the recent progress of direct observation and control of H-bond dynamics in several model systems on a metal surface by using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). General aspects of H-bond dynamics and the experimental methods are briefly described in chapter 1 and 2. In the subsequent four chapters, I present direct observation of an H-bond exchange reaction within a single water dimer (chapter 3), a symmetric H bond (chapter 4) and H-atom relay reactions (chapter 5) within water–hydroxyl complexes, and an intramolecular H-atom transfer reaction (tautomerization) within a single porphycene molecule (chapter 6). These results provide novel microscopic insights into H-bond dynamics at the single-molecule level, and highlight significant impact on the process from quantum effects, namely tunneling and zero-point vibration, resulting from the small mass of H atom. Additionally, local environmental effect on H-bond dynamics is also examined by using atom/molecule manipulation with the STM.     

Electrochemical reactions at the electrode/solution interface:Theory and applications to water electrolysis and oxygen reduction

Theoretical simulations on complex electrochemical processes have been developed on the basis of the understanding in electrochemistry,which has benefited from quantum mechanics calculations.This article reviews the recent progress on the theory and applications in electrocatalysis.Two representative reactions,namely water electrolysis and oxygen reduction,are selected to illustrate how the theoretical methods are applied to electrocatalytic reactions.The microscopic nature of these electrochemical reaction...     

Studying single molecule electrochemistry with scanning tunneling microscope break-junction technique

The fundamental principle of molecular electronics is to comprehend electrical properties of single molecules connected between two probe electrodes. In recent years, substantial advances in this field have been made to underpin experimental and theoretical understanding of single molecule electrochemistry. By using scanning tunneling microscope (STM) break-junction technique, the switching events of electrical current from single molecule bridge tuning by electrochemical gating are investigated to uncover the relationship between electrochemical electron transfer and charge transport processes in chemical and biological molecule junctions. In this short review, we outline the latest works of single molecule electrochemistry studied with STM break-junction technique from Nongjian Tao's group, and share the insights on the opportunities and challenges for future research.     

Long-distance electron tunneling in proteins

Long-distance tunneling is the major mechanism of electron transfer (ET) in proteins. For a number of years, a major question has been whether specific electron tunneling pathways exist. This question is still debated in the literature, because the pathways are not observed directly, and interpretation of experimental results on ET rates involves ambiguities. The extremely small tunneling interactions are difficult to calculate accurately. Recently, there has been remarkable progress in the area; however, some problems still remain unresolved. The accurate prediction of the absolute rates of long-distance ET reactions and other biological charge-transfer reactions is a particularly pressing issue. The current theoretical calculations indicate that the specific paths do exist in static protein structures. However, the protein motions can result in significant averaging of the spatial tunneling patterns, and it is not clear how accurately subtle quantum interference effects are described by the present theories. The key to resolving these issues is to perform accurate, first-principles calculations of electron tunneling that include the dynamics of the protein. This paper reviews some of theoretical issues of electron tunneling dynamics in inhomogeneous organic media.     

A review of proton transfer reactions between various carbon-acids and amine bases in aprotic solvents

The subject of proton transfer between carbon acids and nitrogen bases in aprotic solvents is reviewed. Equilibrium and rate constants that characterize such reactions are most often determined utilizing UV-visible spectrophotometry. At ambient temperature reaction rates are sufficiently rapid that fast reaction methods, for example, the stopped-flow and temperature-jump techniques are required in many cases. Variation of the properties of the donor and acceptor reaction pairs enables electronic and steric effects upon thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of proton transfer to be assessed. Determination of the kinetic isotope effect (KIE), i.e. k(protium)/k(deuterium) led to the conclusion that, under certain circumstances and when the KIE is greater than seven, the proton undergoes reaction with a significant degree of quantum mechanical tunneling, consistent with a theoretical prediction advanced several decades earlier. In fact this aspect may be one of the most significant outgrowths of these studies. Many reactions have been characterized (by tunneling) but rarely are the reacting systems experimentally amenable to obtaining all the experimental criteria that support tunneling. Controversy that has arisen regarding treatment of experimental data and resulting conclusions from them is visited in this review. The structural nature of the product state of reaction is formulated based on spectroscopic evidence, in favorable cases, and probable structures of the transition state can be inferred.     

Electrochemical reactions at the electrode/solution interface: Theory and applications to water electrolysis and oxygen reduction

Theoretical simulations on complex electrochemical processes have been developed on the basis of the understanding in electrochemistry, which has benefited from quantum mechanics calculations. This article reviews the recent progress on the theory and applications in electrocatalysis. Two representative reactions, namely water electrolysis and oxygen reduction, are selected to illustrate how the theoretical methods are applied to electrocatalytic reactions. The microscopic nature of these electrochemical reactions under the applied potentials is described and the understanding of the reactions is summarized. The thermodynamics and kinetics of the electrochemical reactions affected by the interplay of the electrochemical potential, the bonding strength and the local surface structure are addressed at the atomic level.     

The role of long range tunneling in electron transfer processes in condensed media

Experimental evidence is given for the importance of long range tunneling in electron transfer reactions in condensed media: the unusually weak effect of electrostatic repulsion on the rate of some electron transfer and spin exchange processes; electron transfer between distant (up to ≈ 30 A) species in solids at a rate considerably exceeding that of thermal diffusion; the unusual concentration dependence of radiation yields in the presence of scavengers, etc. The concept of long range tunneling is shown to permit quantitative explanation and correlation of experimental data on electron transfer in quite different fields.The factors determining the efficiency of tunneling, as well as some peculiar features of tunneling kinetics are considered.The role of long range tunneling in various chemical processes involving electron transfer in condensed media are discussed (ion reactions in solutions, photochemistry, radiation chemistry, reactions with polymers, some biochemical reactions).     

Grand canonical ensemble approach to electrochemical thermodynamics,kinetics, and model Hamiltonians

The unique feature of electrochemistry is the ability to control reaction thermodynamics and kinetics by the application of electrode potential. Recently, theoretical methods and computational approaches within the grand canonical ensemble (GCE) have enabled to explicitly include and control the electrode potential in first principles calculations. In this review, recent advances and future promises of GCE density functional theory and rate theory are discussed. Particular focus is devoted to considering how the GCE methods either by themselves or combined with model Hamiltonians can be used to address intricate phenomena such as solvent/electrolyte effects and nuclear quantum effects to provide a detailed understanding of electrochemical reactions and interfaces.     

燃料电池电极表界面催化氧还原反应的STM研究进展

催化氧还原反应的电催化剂是燃料电池的一个重要组成部分. 从分子尺度研究催化氧还原反应中所涉及的表界面反应机理,不仅有利于深入理解催化机理,更有利于指导人们合理地设计新型的电催化剂. 本文结合近年来国内外的研究工作,概述了通过扫描隧道显微镜研究燃料电池内部催化氧还原反应过程中所涉及的表面形貌变化、单分子结构变化、中间体的观测以及反应产物调控等方面最新进展,并展望了该研究领域的发展趋势.     

Computationally empowered design of emerging earth-abundant electrocatalysts toward electron- /proton-transferring energy conversion

Affordable and sustainable, also often quoted as Pt-free or metal-free, electrocatalysts have a pivotal role in various electrochemical energy conversion systems, which are attracting huge demands in the 21st century. Recent technological development enables us to perform computationally empowered experimental design or discovery of materials constituted of abundant elements (e.g. carbon, nitrogen, boron, etc.) with desirable electrochemical properties. These works indicate that nontraditional candidates, such as insulators being believed to unfavorable, are indeed found to be applicable as active electrocatalysts. This review summarizes state-of-the-art cooperative experimental/theoretical works devoted to understand fundamental aspects of electron- /proton-transferring surface electrochemical reactions from the point of materials. These works are expected to accelerate material research to find out optimal Pt- or metal-free electrocatalysts, even based on material classes which were previously rejected as candidates, toward electrochemical energy conversion devices.     

Quantum effects in ab-initio calculations of rate constants for chemical reactions occuring in the condensed phase

An overview of recent advances in the development of methods designed to calculate rate constants for chemical reactions obeying mass action kinetic equations in condensed phases is presented. A general framework addressing mixed quantum-classical systems is elaborated that enables quantum features such as tunneling effects, zero-point vibrations, dynamic quantum coherence, and non-adiabatic effects to be calculated. An efficient Monte Carlo sampling method for performing ab-initio calculations of rate constants and isotope effects in chemical processes in condensed phases is outlined, and the connection of isotope effects to reaction mechanism is explored     

Semiclassical treatments of electron transfer rate from weak to strong electronic coupling regime

Electron transfer (ET) rate is a fundamental parameter to characterize ET processes in physical, chemical, material and biologic sciences. It is affected by a number of quantum phenomena, such as nuclear tunneling, curve crossing, quantum interference, and the coupling to the environment. It is thus a challenge to accurately evaluate the ET rate since one has to incorporate both quantum effects and dissipation. In this review article, we present several semiclassical theories proposed in our group to cover the regime from weak to strong electronic coupling. Their applications to some concrete systems are also shown.     

Quantum Control of Gas‐Phase and Liquid‐Phase Femtochemistry

Active control of chemical reactions on a microscopic (molecular) level, that is, the selective breaking or making of chemical bonds, is an old dream. However, conventional control agents used in chemical synthesis are macroscopic variables such as temperature, pressure or concentration, which gives no direct access to the quantum‐mechanical reaction pathway. In quantum control, by contrast, molecular dynamics are guided with specifically designed light fields. Thus it is possible to efficiently and selectively reach user‐defined reaction channels. In the last years, experimental techniques were developed by which many breakthroughs in this field were achieved. Femtosecond laser pulses are manipulated in so‐called pulse shapers to generate electric field profiles which are specifically adapted to a given quantum system and control objective. The search for optimal fields is guided by an automated learning loop, which employs direct feedback from experimental output. Thereby quantum control over gas‐phase as well as liquid‐phase femtochemical processes has become possible. In this review, we first discuss the theoretical and experimental background for many of the recent experiments treated in the literature. Examples from our own research are then used to illustrate several fundamental and practical aspects in gas‐phase as well as liquid‐phase quantum control. Some additional technological applications and developments are also described, such as the automated optimization of the output from commercial femtosecond laser systems, or the control over the polarization state of light on an ultrashort timescale. The increasing number of successful implementations of adaptive learning techniques points at the great versatility of computer‐guided optimization methods. The general approach to active control of light–matter interaction has also applications in many other areas of modern physics and related disciplines.     

扬帆启航：电化学实验初步

电化学是研究电能和化学能相互转化的规律的科学。电能和化学能之间的相互转换,是通过电极/电解质溶液表界面的结构变化和电荷转移反应来实现的。以电化学能源器件为例,前者为超级电容器,能量存储和释放主要通过界面双电层的表界面结构变化来实现;后者为化学电源,能量存储和释放主要通过电极活性物质的表界面化学反应来实现。所以,研究一个电化学体系时,主要关注两个问题,即表界面结构和表界面电荷转移反应。而表界面结构直接影响表界面电荷转移反应的性质,因此,从电化学实验的角度,表界面的构筑是至关重要的,包括电极的制备和表征、电极修饰材料的制备及组装、溶剂和支持电解质的选择和优化、电化学实验环境等等。本文旨在向广大电化学初学者讲述电化学实验的准备工作以及对实验现场数据的基本判断,帮助大家在实验中及时发现问题,及早采取措施,高效率地获取可信的实验数据。     

Insights Gained by Modeling the Kinetics of Archetypal Hydrogen Atom Transfer Reactions: NH3 + ·H ⇆ H2N· + H2 and CH4 + ·H ⇆ H3C· + H2

Experimental measurements of the kinetics of the title reactions extend to temperature ranges of 1360 K for the ammonia‐hydrogen reaction and of 1602 K for the methane‐hydrogen reaction. Curved plots of ln(k) versus 1/T are obtained. Many theoretical calculations modeling these reactions routinely use tunneling corrections to match experiment. The steepness and curvatures of the plots are modeled successfully in this work and are shown to be caused solely by changes in the bond dissociation energies of the bonds involved in the reactions without invoking tunneling or any other adjustable parameters. The conclusion that tunneling does not contribute significantly to the rates in the temperature range of the measurements is in stark contrast with those theoretical calculations invoking large tunneling factors in the experimental temperature range. Support for the conclusion is provided by theoretical calculations of harmonic quantum transition state theory implementing instanton theory. There is direct experimental evidence that significant tunneling occurs in some H atom transfers, as with isotopomers of H₂ + ·H and other H transfers at very low temperatures. However, there is no direct experimental evidence of significant tunneling contributions to the rates of the title reactions in the temperature range of the measurements. Insights are gained into what specific forces must be overcome by the enthalpy of activation for reaction to occur.     

Chemistry at surfaces: from ab initio structures to quantum dynamics

Recent years have witnessed an ever growing interest in theoretically studying chemical processes at surfaces. Apart from the interest in catalysis, electrochemistry, hydrogen economy, green chemistry, atmospheric and interstellar chemistry, theoretical understanding of the molecule–surface chemical bonding and of the microscopic dynamics of adsorption and reaction of adsorbates are of fundamental importance for modeling known processes, understanding new experimental data, predicting new phenomena, controlling reaction pathways. In this work, we review the efforts we have made in the last few years in this exciting field. We first consider the energetics and the structural properties of some adsorbates on metal surfaces, as deduced by converged, first-principles, plane-wave calculations within the slab-supercell approach. These studies comprise water adsorption on Ru(0001), a subject of very intense debate in the past few years, and oxygen adsorption on aluminum, the prototypical example of metal passivation. Next, we address dynamical processes at surfaces with classical and quantum methods. Here the main interest is in hydrogen dynamics on metallic and semi-metallic surfaces, because of its importance for hydrogen storage and interstellar chemistry. Hydrogen sticking is studied with classical and quasi-classical means, with particular emphasis on the relaxation of hot–atoms following dissociative chemisorption. Hot atoms dynamics on metal surfaces is investigated in the reverse, hydrogen recombination process and compared to Eley–Rideal dynamics. Finally, Eley–Rideal, collision-induced desorption, and adsorbate-induced trapping are studied quantum mechanically on a graphite surface, and unexpected quantum effects are observed.     

Theoretical models of X–H bonds breaking (X = C,O, and H) over metal surfaces: Used for simulation of catalytic methane steam reforming

A short review of the works where theoretical models for describing kinetics of catalytic X–H bonds breaking reactions (X = C, O, and H) over metal surfaces were developed on the basis of concepts of the Dogonadze–Kuznetsov–Levich quantum mechanical theory of chemical processes. Numerical values of the rate constants of these reactions over (111) surfaces of nickel, platinum and rhodium, which are considered as steps of a complex catalytic process of methane steam reforming (MSR) are calculated and compared with experimental data. These rate constants are used for simulations of microkinetic models of the MSR reactions on the catalysts. Effects of external parameters on the MSR rates and on isotope effects are described.     

Overreact,an in silico lab: Automative quantum chemical microkinetic simulations for complex chemical reactions

Today's demand for precisely predicting chemical reactions from first principles requires research to go beyond Gibbs' free energy diagrams and consider other effects such as concentrations and quantum tunneling. The present work introduces overreact, a novel Python package for propagating chemical reactions over time using data from computational chemistry only. The overreact code infers all differential equations and parameters from a simple input that consists of a set of chemical equations and quantum chemistry package outputs for each chemical species. We evaluate some applications from the literature: gas-phase eclipsed-staggered isomerization of ethane, gas-phase umbrella inversion of ammonia, gas-phase degradation of methane by chlorine radical, and three solvation-phase reactions. Furthermore, we comment on a simple solvation-phase acid–base equilibrium. We show how it is possible to achieve reaction profiles and information matching experiments.     

Vibrational Stark shift spectroscopy of catalysts under the influence of electric fields at electrode–solution interfaces

External control of chemical processes is a subject of widespread interest in chemical research, including control of electrocatalytic processes with significant promise in energy research. The electrochemical double-layer is the nanoscale region next to the electrode/electrolyte interface where chemical reactions typically occur. Understanding the effects of electric fields within the electrochemical double layer requires a combination of synthesis, electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and theory. In particular, vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy is a powerful technique to probe the response of molecular catalysts at the electrode interface under bias. Fundamental understanding can be obtained via synthetic tuning of the adsorbed molecular catalysts on the electrode surface and by combining experimental VSFG data with theoretical modelling of the Stark shift response. The resulting insights at the molecular level are particularly valuable for the development of new methodologies to control and characterize catalysts confined to electrode surfaces. This Perspective article is focused on how systematic modifications of molecules anchored to surfaces report information concerning the geometric, energetic, and electronic parameters of catalysts under bias attached to electrode surfaces.

Heterogeneous electrocatalysis: characterization of interfacial electric field within the electrochemical double layer.