DFT study of gas-phase adsorption of benzotriazole on Cu(111), Cu(100), Cu(110), and low coordinated defects thereon

The adsorption of benzotriazole--an outstanding corrosion inhibitor for copper--on Cu(111), Cu(100), Cu(110), and low coordinated defects thereon has been studied and characterized using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We find that benzotriazole can either chemisorb in an upright geometry or physisorb with the molecular plane being nearly parallel to the surface. While the magnitude of chemisorption energy increases as passing from densely packed Cu(111) to more open surfaces and low coordinated defects, the physisorption energy is instead rather similar on all three low Miller index surfaces. It is pointed out that due to a large dipole moment of benzotriazole the dipole-dipole interactions are rather important. For perpendicular chemisorption modes the lateral repulsion is very long ranged, extending up to the nearest-neighbor distance of about 60 bohrs, whereas for parallel adsorption modes the lateral interactions are far less pronounced and the molecules experience a weak attraction at distances ?25 bohrs. The chemisorption energies were therefore extrapolated to zero coverage by a recently developed scheme and the resulting values are -0.60, -0.73, and -0.92 eV for Cu(111), Cu(100), and Cu(110), respectively, whereas the zero-coverage physisorption energy is about -0.7 eV irrespective of the surface plane. While the more densely packed surfaces are not reactive enough to interact with the molecular π-system, the reactivity of Cu(110) appears to be at the onset of such interaction, resulting in a very stable parallel adsorption structure with an adsorption energy of -1.3 eV that is ascribed as an apparent chemisorption+physisorption mode.     

A density-functional theory study of the interaction of N2O with Rh110

The adsorption of nitrous oxide, N2O, on a Rh110 surface has been characterized by using density-functional theory. N2O was found to bind to the surface in two alternative forms. The first, less stable form is tilted with the terminal N atom attached to the surface, while the second, more stable form lies horizontally on the surface. Adsorption on the on-top site is more stable than that on the bridge site. The tilted form remains linear on adsorption, while the horizontal form is bent, with the terminal-nitrogen and oxygen atoms pointing towards the surface. At lower adsorbate coverage, Theta less than or similar to 1/4 ML (ML-monolayer), the adsorption of a few horizontal N2O configurations is dissociative, i.e., N2O-->N2(a)+O(a). The N2O-surface interaction is discussed in terms of the electronic structure analysis.     

Methane dehydrogenation on Rh@Cu(111): a first-principles study of a model catalyst

The issue of tuning the relative height of the first two dehydrogenation barriers of methane (CH(4) --> CH(3) + H and CH(3) --> CH(2) + H) is addressed using density-functional theory. It is shown that the combination of a very active reaction center-such as Rh-with a more inert substrate-such as Cu(111)-may hinder the second dehydrogenation step with respect to the first, thus resulting in the reverse of the natural order of the two barriers' heights.     

The quantum defect: the true measure of time-dependent density-functional results for atoms

Quantum defect theory is applied to (time-dependent) density-functional calculations of Rydberg series for closed shell atoms: He, Be, and Ne. The performance and behavior of such calculations are much better quantified and understood in terms of the quantum defect rather than transition energies.     

Angle-resolved desorption and removal of surface nitrogen in deNOx

This paper reports on recent progress on angle-resolved desorption leading to structure-sensitive desorption dynamics. The sensitivity is exemplified in NO and N₂O reduction on Pd and Rh surfaces. The energy partitioning in the repulsive desorption of hyper-thermal products into their rotational and translational modes is an indispensable concept to examine the structure of a reaction site from desorbing molecules because it connects the structure of a transition state with each energy of desorbed products. The extent of the energy partitioning will be derived from the desorption-angle dependences of both the rotational and translational energies at each vibrational state. Such energy analysis has never been completed for any thermal reactive desorption. A new type of measurement is thus proposed. Additionally, we discuss the inadequate use of the detailed balance principle in desorption dynamics, which has prevented desorption dynamics from being sensitive to surface structures.     

Thermoresponsive Poly(2‐oxazine)s

The monomers 2‐methyl‐2‐oxazine (MeOZI), 2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazine (EtOZI), and 2‐n‐propyl‐2‐oxazine (nPropOZI) were synthesized and polymerized via the living cationic ring‐opening polymerization (CROP) under microwave‐assisted conditions. pEtOZI and pnPropOZI were found to be thermoresponsive, exhibiting LCST behavior in water and their cloud point temperatures (T_CP) are lower than for poly(2‐oxazoline)s with similar side chains. However, comparison of poly(2‐oxazine) and poly(2‐oxazoline)s isomers reveals that poly(2‐oxazine)s are more water soluble, indicating that the side chain has a stronger impact on polymer solubility than the main chain. In conclusion, variations of both the side chains and the main chains of the poly(cyclic imino ether)s resulted in a series of distinct homopolymers with tunable T_CP.     

Inclined N2 desorption in N2O reduction by D2 and CO on Pd(110)

Inclined N2 desorption was examined in the course of a catalyzed N2O + D2 (or CO) reaction on Pd(110) by angle-resolved mass spectroscopy combined with cross-correlation time-of-flight techniques. N2 desorption collimated at around 45 degrees off the normal toward the [001] direction in the temperature range of 400-800 K. Its collimation angle and kinetic energy were insensitive to both the surface temperature and surface conditions throughout the kinetic transition. It is proposed that this peculiar N2 desorption is induced by the decomposition of N2O oriented along the [001] direction.     

Engineering the reactivity of metal catalysts: a model study of methane dehydrogenation on Rh(111)

The first two steps of methane dissociation on Rh(111) have been investigated using density-functional theory, focusing on the dependence of the catalyst's reactivity on the atomic coordination of the active metal site. We find that, although the barrier for the dehydrogenation of methane (CH4 --> CH3 + H) decreases as expected with the coordination of the binding site, the dehydrogenation of methyl (CH3 --> CH2 + H) is hindered at an ad-atom defect, where the first reaction is instead most favored. Our findings indicate that, if it were possible to let the dissociation occur selectively at ad-atom defects, the reaction could be blocked after the first dehydrogenation step, a result of high potential interest for many dream reactions such as, for example, the direct conversion of methane to methanol.