Engineering the Charge-Transfer State to Facilitate Spin–Orbit Charge Transfer Intersystem Crossing in Spirobis[anthracene]diones

Spiro conjugation has been proposed to dictate the efficiency of charge transfer, which could directly affect the spin–orbit charge transfer intersystem crossing (SOCT-ISC) process. However, this process has yet to be exemplified. Herein, we prepared three spirobis[anthracene]diones, in which two benzophenone moieties are locked in close proximity and differentially functionalized to fine-tune the charge transfer state. Its feasibility for SOCT-ISC was theoretically predicted, then experimentally evaluated. Through fine-tuning the spiro conjugation coupling and varying the solvent dielectric constants, ISC rate constants were engineered to vary in a dynamic range of three orders of magnitude, from 7.8×10⁸ s⁻¹ to 1.0×10¹¹ s⁻¹, which is the highest ISC rate reported for SOCT-ISC system to our knowledge. Our findings substantiate the key factors for effective SOCT-ISC and offer a new avenue for the rational design of heavy atom free triplet sensitizers.     

Unveiling the Promotion of Surface-Adsorbed Chalcogenate on the Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) are efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) pre-electrocatalysts, and will in situ transform into metal (oxy)hydroxides under OER condition. However, the role of chalcogen is not fully elucidated after oxidation and severe leaching. Here we present the vital promotion of surface-adsorbed chalcogenates on the OER activity. Taking NiSe₂ as an example, in situ Raman spectroscopy revealed the oxidation of Se-Se to selenites (SeO₃²⁻) then to selenates (SeO₄²⁻). Combining the severe Se leaching and the strong signal of selenates, it is assumed that the selenates are rich on the surface and play significant roles. As expected, adding selenites to the electrolyte of Ni(OH)₂ dramatically enhance its OER activity. And sulfates also exhibit the similar effect, suggesting the promotion of surface-adsorbed chalcogenates on OER is universal. Our findings offer unique insight into the transformation mechanism of materials during electrolysis.     

熵驱大分子胶体粒子的柱状受限结晶

熵是物理化学的基本状态参量,在统计力学和热力学中处于核心位置.按照玻尔兹曼的微观解释,熵可以由孤立系统微观状态的数目(W)给出,即S=kBlnW,这里kB为玻尔兹曼常数[1,2].根据此公式,微观状态数越多,系统越混乱,熵越大,所以熵常被视作体系无序程度的度量.但熵增仅对应体系微观状态数的增加,与可观测的结构有序程度无关[3~5].在一些典型的软物质体系中,结构越有序熵反而越大,如胶体硬球在随机密堆积点的有序结晶[6]及描述各向异性棒状分子从各向同性相到向列相转变的Onsager原理[7].     

Origin of pressure-induced insulator-to-metal transition in the van der Waals compound FePS3 from first-principles calculations

Pressure-induced insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) has been studied in the van der Waals compound iron thiophosphate (FePS₃) using first-principles calculations within the periodic linear combination of atomic orbitals method with hybrid Hartree–Fock-DFT B3LYP functional. Our calculations reproduce correctly the IMT at ∼15 GPa, which is accompanied by a reduction of the unit cell volume and of the vdW gap. We found from the detailed analysis of the projected density of states that the 3p states of phosphorus atoms contribute significantly at the bottom of the conduction band. As a result, the collapse of the band gap occurs due to changes in the electronic structure of FePS₃ induced by relative displacements of phosphorus or sulfur atoms along the c-axis direction under pressure.     

Electronic structures of NbGen−/0/+ (n = 1–3) clusters from multiconfigurational CASPT2 and density matrix renormalization group-CASPT2 calculations

Density functional theory and multiconfigurational CASPT2 and density matrix renormalization group DMRG-CASPT2 have been employed to study the low-lying states of NbGe_n^−/0/+ (n = 1–3) clusters. With the DMRG-CASPT2 method, the active spaces are extended to a size of 20 orbitals. For most of the states, the CASPT2 relative energies are comparable with the DMRG-CASPT2 results. The leading configuration, bond distances, vibrational frequencies, and relative energies of the low-lying states of these clusters were calculated. The ground states of these clusters were computed to be ³Δ, ⁴Φ, and ⁵Φ of NbGe^−/0/+; ³A₂, ⁴B₁, and ³B₁ of cyclic-NbGe₂^−/0/+; and ¹A′, 1²A″ and 1²A′′ (²E), and ³A″ of tetrahedral-NbGe₃^−/0/+ isomers. For NbGe cluster, our calculations proposed that the ⁶∑ is almost degenerate with the ⁴Φ with the CASPT2 and DMRG-CASPT2 relative energies of 0.05 and 0.06 eV. The adiabatic detachment energies of NbGe_n⁻ (n = 1–3) clusters were estimated to be 1.46, 1.55, and 2.18 eV by the CASPT2 method. The relevant detachment energies of the anionic ground state and the ionization energies of the neutral ground states are evaluated at the CASPT2 level.     

PyCDFT: A Python package for constrained density functional theory

We present PyCDFT, a Python package to compute diabatic states using constrained density functional theory (CDFT). PyCDFT provides an object-oriented, customizable implementation of CDFT, and allows for both single-point self-consistent-field calculations and geometry optimizations. PyCDFT is designed to interface with existing density functional theory (DFT) codes to perform CDFT calculations where constraint potentials are added to the Kohn–Sham Hamiltonian. Here, we demonstrate the use of PyCDFT by performing calculations with a massively parallel first-principles molecular dynamics code, Qbox, and we benchmark its accuracy by computing the electronic coupling between diabatic states for a set of organic molecules. We show that PyCDFT yields results in agreement with existing implementations and is a robust and flexible package for performing CDFT calculations. The program is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3821097 .     

Theoretic quantum information entropies for the generalized hyperbolic potential

The Shannon entropy (S) and the Fisher Information (I) entropies are investigated for a generalized hyperbolic potential in position and momentum spaces. First, the Schrodinger equation is solved exactly using the Nikiforov-Uvarov-Functional Analysis method to obtain the energy spectra and the corresponding wave function. By Fourier transforming the position space wave function, the corresponding momentum wave function was obtained for the low-lying states corresponding to the ground and first excited states. The positions and momentum of Shannon entropy and Fisher Information entropies were calculated numerically. Finally, the Bialynicki-Birula and Mycielski and the Stam-Cramer-Rao inequalities for the Shannon entropy and Fisher Information entropies, respectively, were tested and were found to be satisfied for all cases considered.     

A comparative multi-reference configuration interaction study of the low-lying states of two thione isomers of thiophenol

Multi-reference configuration interaction, MR-CI (including extensivity corrections, named +Q), calculations were performed on the S₀–S₃ states of cyclohexa-2,4-diene-1-thione (thione 24 ) and cyclohexa-2,5-diene-1-thione (thione 25 ), which are thione isomers of thiophenol. Several types of uncontracted MR-CIS and MR-CISD wavefunctions were employed, comprising MR-CI expansions as large as ~365 × 10⁶ configuration state functions. The nature of the studied excited states was characterized. Vertical excitation energies (ΔE) and oscillator strengths (f) were computed. The most intense transitions (S₀ → S₂ for 24 and S₀ → S₃ for 25 ) did not change with the wavefunction, although a variation as large as ~1 eV was obtained for the S₃ state of 24 , at the highest (MR-CI+Q) level. On the other hand, ΔE changed at most by ~0.56 eV for 25 as the wavefunction changes, at the same level. The S₁ state of both thiones was found to have nπ* character and is in the visible region. For 24 , S₂ and S₃ are ππ* and nπ* states, respectively, while for 25 the reverse order is obtained. S₂ and S₃ are in the range ~3.5 to 5.2 eV, again at the highest level. It is the first time that the excited states of the title molecules are studied. The computed results agree with the experimental onset of photoreactions of thiones 24 and 25 found by Reva et al (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015 , 17, 4888).     

Filling a Gap: The Coordinatively Saturated Group 4 Carbonyl Complexes TM(CO)8 (TM=Zr,Hf) and Ti(CO)7

Homoleptic Group 4 metal carbonyl cation and neutral complexes were prepared in the gas phase and/or in solid neon matrix. Infrared spectroscopy studies reveal that both zirconium and hafnium form eight-coordinate carbonyl neutral and cation complexes. In contrast, titanium forms only the six-coordinate Ti(CO)₆⁺ and seven-coordinate Ti(CO)₇. Titanium octacarbonyl Ti(CO)₈ is unstable as a result of steric repulsion between the CO ligands. The 20-electron Zr(CO)₈ and Hf(CO)₈ complexes represent the first experimentally observed homoleptic octacarbonyl neutral complexes of transition metals. The molecules still fulfill the 18-electron rule, because one doubly occupied valence orbital does not mix with any of the metal valence atomic orbitals. Zr(CO)₈ and Hf(CO)₈ are stable against the loss of one CO because the CO ligands encounter less steric repulsion than Zr(CO)₇ and Hf(CO)₇. The heptacarbonyl complexes have shorter metal−CO bonds than that of the octacarbonyl complexes due to stronger electrostatic and covalent bonding, but the significantly smaller repulsive Pauli term makes the octacarbonyl complexes stable.     

Pt/CexZr1-xO2催化剂上丙烷完全氧化性能研究

采用沉淀法制备了ZrO2,CeO2和Ce0.7Zr0.3O2载体,并用浸渍法制备负载型Pt催化剂。考察了500和900℃焙烧催化剂的丙烷完全氧化性能和水汽对丙烷氧化反应的影响。对于500℃焙烧的催化剂,催化剂的丙烷氧化活性顺序为:Pt/ZrO2-500>Pt/CeO2-500>Pt/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-500;而经900℃焙烧的催化剂活性顺序为:Pt/ZrO2-900>Pt/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-900>Pt/CeO2-900。反应气氛中水汽的存在对两种Pt/ZrO2催化剂的活性均有抑制作用(T50温度均提高了10~15℃);而对于Pt/CeO2-500催化剂有抑制作用(T50温度提高10℃),但对Pt/CeO2-900催化剂活性有促进作用(T50温度下降25℃);对于两种Pt/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2催化剂活性具有促进作用(T50温度均下降5~25℃)。表征结果表明催化剂的活性与其表面Pt物种价态密切相关,催化剂表面上Pt0物种有利于活性的提高。Pt/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-500催化剂中只含有氧化态Pt物种(Pt^2+),而Pt/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-900催化剂中则含有部分金属态Pt物种,因此其活性高于Pt/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-500催化剂。