Structures of Adatom Clusters on Ag（111） Surface by Genetic Algorithm

We study the structures of Ag adatom clusters supported on the metal Ag(111) surface using the genetic algorithm (GA). The atomic interactions are modelled by the surface-embedded-atom method. The lowest-energy structures of adatom clusters with sizes n=3-20 are obtained, in which n=7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19 are the magic numbers. Furthermore, we give a series of structures with energies close to the lowest energy (the lower-energy isomers), and the structure features are studied in detail. Except for some magic clusters and small clusters, every configuration of adatom clusters generally has two distinct adsorption ways, so the isomers always appear in pairs.     

Chemisorption of Au on Si（001） surface

The chemisorption of one monolayer of Au atoms on an ideal Si(001) surface is studied by using the self-consistent tight binding linear muffin-tin orbital method. Energies of the adsorption system of a Au atom on different sites are calculated. It is found that the most stable position is A site (top site) for the adsorbed Au atoms above the Si(001) surface. It is possible for the adsorbed Au atoms to sit below the Si(001) surface at the B_1 site(bridge site), resulting in a Au－Si mixed layer. This is in agreement with the experiment results. The layer projected density of states is calculated and compared with that of the clean surface. The charge transfer is also investigated.     

Structural Stabilities of Ordered Arrays of Nb4 Clusters on NaCI（IO0） Surface

Adsorption of ordered （2 × 2） arrays of Nb4 clusters on the insulating surface of NaCI（100） is studied by the first-principles calculations within the density functional theory. The calculations on the relaxed geometries and cohesive energies show that both the tetrahedron and quadrangle-Nb4 can be stably adsorbed on this substrate, which may have important applications. The adsorption of quadrangle-Nb4 on the NaCl（100） surface is more stable than that of tetrahedron-Nb4. Both the Nb4 clusters studied and a single Nb atom prefer the top site of the Cl atom in the NaCl（100） surface. Electronic structure analysis suggests that the interactions between the Nb4 clusters and the substrate are weak.     

Bi- and Au-Induced Reconstructions on GaAs（001）-2 × 4 Surface

Submonolayer Bi and Au adsorptions on the GaAs（001）-2× 4 surface are investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and first-principles calculations. The 1 ×4 and 3 × 4 reconstructed surface induced by Bi and Au, respectively, are revealed and their structural models are proposed based on experiments and first-principles calculations. Moreover, the validity of the recently proposed generalized electron counting （GEC） model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 （2006） 126103] is examined in detail by using the two surfaces. The GEC model perfectly explains the structural features, such Bi-1 × 4 surface and the 3x arrangement of four-atom Au as the characteristic short double-line structure in the clusters.     

Initial Processes of Hydrogen Adsorption on Si（100） Surface

The adsorption of one monolayer H atoms on an ideal Si(100) surface is studied by using the self-consistent tight binding linear muffin-tin orbital method. Energies of adsorption systems of H atoms on different sites are calculated.It is found that the adsorbed H atoms are more favorable on B1 site (bridge site) with a distance 0.056 nm above the Si surface. There does not exist reaction barrier at the Si surface. The layer projected density states are calculated and compared with those of the clean surface. The charge transfers are also investigated.     

Ar adsorptions on Al （111） and Ir （111） surfaces： a first-principles study

We investigate the adsorptions of Ar on Al (111) and Ir (111) surfaces at the four high symmetry sites,i.e.,top,bridge,fcc-and hcp-hollow sites at the coverage of 0.25 monolayer (ML) using the density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation of Perdew,Burke and Ernzerhof functions.The geometric structures,the binding energies,the electronic properties of argon atoms adsorbed on Al (111) and Ir (111) surfaces,the difference in electron density between on the Al (111) surface and on the Ir (111) surface and the total density of states are calculated.Our studies indicate that the most stable adsorption site of Ar on the Al (111) surface is found to be the fcc-hollow site for the (2 × 2) structure.The corresponding binding energy of an argon atom at this site is 0.538 eV/Ar atom at a coverage of 0.25 ML.For the Ar adsorption on Ir (111) surface at the same coverage,the most favourable site is the hcp-hollow site,with a corresponding binding energy of 0.493 eV.The total density of states (TDOS) is analysed for Ar adsorption on Al (111) surface and it is concluded that the adsorption behaviour is dominated by the interaction between 3s,3p orbits of Ar atom and the 3p orbit of the base Al metal and the formation of sp hybrid orbital.For Ar adsorption on Ir (111) surface,the conclusion is that the main interaction in the process of Ar adsorption on Ir (111) surface comes from the 3s and 3p orbits of argon atom and 5d orbit of Ir atom.     

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.     

Density functional theory study of MgnNi2 （n=1-6） clusters

The geometries of Mg n Ni 2(n = 1-6) clusters are studied by using the hybrid density functional theory(B3LYP) with LANL2DZ basis sets.For the ground-state structures of Mg n Ni 2 clusters,the stabilities and the electronic properties are investigated.The results show that the groundstate structures and symmetries of Mg clusters change greatly due to the Ni atoms.The average binding energies have a growing tendency while the energy gaps have a declining tendency.In addition,the ionization energies exhibit an odd-even oscillation feature.We also conclude that n = 3,5 are the magic numbers of the Mg n Ni 2 clusters.The Mg 3 Ni 2 and Mg 5 Ni 2 clusters are more stable than neighbouring clusters,and the Mg 4 Ni 2 cluster exhibits a higher chemical activity.     

Dissociative Chemisorption of an H2（v,j） Molecule on Rigid Ni （100） Surface： Dependence on Surface Topologies and Initial Rovibrational States of the Molecules

The H2(v,j) Ni(100) collision system has been studied to understand the effects of the surface sites and initial rovibrational states of the molecule on molecule-surface interactions, by a quasiclassical molecular dynamic simulation method. Dissociative adsorption of an H2 molecule on the rigid Ni(100) surface is investigated at topologically different three sites of the surface. Interaction between the molecule and Ni surface was described by a London-Eyring-Polani-Sato (LEPS) potential. Dissociative chemisorption probabilities of the H2(v, j) molecule on various sites of the surface are presented as a function of the translation energies between 0.001-1.0eV. The probabilities obtained at each collision site have unique behaviour. At lower collision energies, indirect processes enhance the reactivity, effects of the rotational excitations and impact sites on the reactivity are more pronounced. The results are compared with the available studies. The physical mechanisms underlying the results and quantum effects are discussed.     

A comparative study on geometries,stabilities, and electronic properties between bimetallic AgnX（X=Au,Cu;n=1-8）and pure silver clusters

Using the meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) exchange correlation TPSS functional, the geo- metric structures, the relative stabilities, and the electronic properties of bimetallic Ag n X (X=Au, Cu; n=1–8) clusters are systematically investigated and compared with those of pure silver clusters. The optimized structures show that the transition point from preferentially planar to three-dimensional structure occurs at n = 6 for the Ag n Au clusters, and at n = 5 for Ag n Cu clusters. For different-sized Ag n X clusters, one X (X=Au or Cu) atom substituted Ag n+1 structure is a dominant growth pattern. The calculated fragmentation energies, second-order differences in energies, and the highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO–LUMO) energy gaps show interesting odd–even oscillation behaviours, indicating that Ag 2,4,6,8 and Ag 1,3,5,7 X (X=Au, Cu) clusters keep high stabilities in comparison with their neighbouring clusters. The natural population analysis reveals that the charges transfer from the Ag n host to the impurity atom except for the Ag 2 Cu cluster. Moreover, vertical ionization potential (VIP), vertical electronic affinity (VEA), and chemical hardness (η) are discussed and compared in depth. The same odd–even oscillations are found for the VIP and η of the Ag n X (X=Au, Cu; n=1–8) clusters.     

Wn (n= 1–6)团簇吸附CO的密度泛函研究

采用密度泛函理论(density functional theory, DFT) 在B3LYP/LANL2DZ基组水平上对钨团簇吸附CO分子进行了系统研究. 结果表明, W_nCO团簇的基态结构是在W_n团簇中性或阴离子基态结构的基础上吸附CO生长而成; CO的吸附以端位吸附为主,桥位吸附为辅; CO分子在W_n团簇表面发生的是非解离性吸附. 与优化的CO键长(0.116 nm)相比,吸附后C-O键长变长(0.120–0.123 nm), 表明吸附后C-O键被削弱, CO分子被活化了.稳定性分析表明,在所研究的团簇中, W₃CO和W₅CO团簇的稳定性较强;自然键轨道(NBO)分析表明, W原子与CO分子相互作用的本质是CO分子内的杂化轨道与W原子6s, 5d, 6p和6d轨道相互作用的结果. 关键词： nCO (n= 1–6)团簇')" href="#">W_nCO (n= 1–6)团簇 基态构型 稳定性 电子性质     

三明治结构Tan(B3N3H6)n+1 团簇的磁性和量子输运性质

利用密度泛函理论和非平衡格林函数方法, 本文对小尺寸团簇Ta_n(B₃N₃H₆)_n+1 (n ≤ 4)的磁性和量子输运性质进行了系统的研究. 计算结果表明, 此类体系采用三明治结构作为其基态并且具有较高的稳定性. 体系的磁矩随团簇尺寸的增大而线性增大. 当把Ta_n(B₃N₃H₆)_n+1团簇耦合到Au电极上时, 形成的Au-Ta_n(B₃N₃H₆)_n+1-Au体系在有限偏压下展示出了较强的自旋过滤能力, 因而可以被看做是一类新型的低维自旋过滤器.     

Au/TiO2/Ru(0 0 0 1) model catalysts and their interaction with CO

Au/TiO₂/Ru(0 0 0 1) model catalysts and their interaction with CO were investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and different surface spectroscopies. Thin titanium oxide films were prepared by Ti deposition on Ru(0 0 0 1) in an O₂ atmosphere and subsequent annealing in O₂. By optimizing the conditions for deposition and post-treatment, smooth films were obtained either as fully oxidized TiO₂ or as partly reduced TiO_x, depending on the preparation conditions. CO adsorbed molecularly on both oxidized and reduced TiO₂, with slightly stronger bonding on the reduced films. Model catalyst surfaces were prepared by depositing submonolayer quantities of Au on the films and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, a weak interaction between the Au and the TiO₂ substrate was found. At 100 K CO adsorption occurred on both the TiO₂ film and on the Au nanoparticles. CO desorbed from the Au particles with activation energies between 53 and 65 kJ/mol, depending on the Au coverage. If the Au deposit was annealed to 770 K prior to CO exposure, the CO adsorption energy decreased significantly. STM measurements revealed that the Au particles grow upon annealing, but are not encapsulated by TiO_x suboxides. The higher CO adsorption energy observed for smaller Au coverages and before annealing is attributed to a significantly stronger interaction of CO with mono- and bilayer Au islands, while for higher particles, the adsorption energy becomes more bulk-like. The implications of these effects on the known particle size effects in CO oxidation over supported Au/TiO₂ catalysts are discussed.     

Cl2 adsorption on MgO(001) surface supported sodium monolayers: a density functional theory study

The adsorption of Cl₂ Na monolayers supported on the MgO(001) surface has been studied by the density functional method using cluster models embedded in a large array of point charges (PCs). The value of PCs was determined by charge self-consistent technique. The results indicate that Na-promoted MgO(001) surface is an efficient catalyst toward Cl₂ adsorptive decomposition. Besides, it was found that the role of the MgO(001) surface is not passive, which is different from CO adsorption on MgO(001) surface supported Na metal monolayers. The analysis of band and projected density of states indicates that the electron transfer from the surface Mg 3s valence orbital and Na 3s valence orbital to the anti-bonding σ^∗ orbital of Cl₂ is the source of the Cl₂ bond weakening. This is also different from the CO adsorption on MgO(001) surface supported Na metal monolayers, where only the electrons from the Na valence orbital are transferred to the anti-bonding π^∗ orbital of adsorbed CO. Our study suggests that the essence of catalysis is different for CO and Cl₂ adsorption on Na metal monolayers supported an MgO(001) surface.     

(HMgN3)n(n=1–5)团簇结构与性质的密度泛函理论研究

利用密度泛函理论在B3LYP/6-311G^*水平上对叠氮化合物(HMgN₃)_n(n=1–5)团簇各种可能构型进行了几何优化,预测了各团簇的最稳定结构. 并对最稳定结构的成键特性、电荷分布、振动特性及稳定性进行理论研究. 结果表明:HMgN₃团簇最稳定结构为直线型;(HMgN₃)_n(n=2,5)团簇最稳定结构为叠氮基中N原子和金属原子相连构成Mg–N–Mg结构;(HMgN₃)_n(n=3,4)团簇最稳定结构为叠氮基与Mg原子相互链接形成的环状结构. 团簇最稳定结构中金属Mg原子均显示正电性,H原子均显示负电性,叠氮基中间的N原子显示正电性、两端的N原子显示负电性,且与Mg原子直接作用的N原子负电性更强. Mg–N键和Mg–H键为典型的离子键,叠氮基内N原子之间是共价键. 团簇最稳定结构的红外光谱分为三部分,其最强振动峰均位于2258–2347 cm^-1,振动模式为叠氮基中N–N键的反对称伸缩振动. 叠氮基在团簇和晶体中结构不变,始终以直线型存在. 稳定性分析显示,(HMgN₃)₃团簇相对于其他团簇更为稳定. 关键词： 3)_n(n=1–5)团簇')" href="#">(HMgN₃)_n(n=1–5)团簇 叠氮基 密度泛函理论 结构与性质     

Electron impact ionization of Ar n , (H2O) n , Ar n (H2O) m clusters

Signals from ions forming in a supersonic molecular beam consisting of an argon-water vapor mixture are measured as functions of the exciting electron energy in the range to 120 eV. The thresholds of electron impact excitation of (H₂O) _{n − 1}H⁺ and Ar _n (H₂O _m ⁺ clusters are determined for the first time. It is found that the proton-hydroxyl group binding energy decreases considerably both in the case of water molecule clustering and when mixed Ar _n (H₂O) _m clusters arise.     

Density-functional study of CO adsorbed on RhN （N = 2-19） clusters

We investigate the structural, electronic and adsorption properties of one single CO molecule adsorbed on Rh_N (N = 2-19) clusters, using the density-functional theory in the spin-polarized generalized gradient approximation. It is found that the structural growth model of the Rh_N clusters transforms from double layers (N = 12-16) to three layers (N = 17-19). Three different adsorption types are the atop site adsorption for N = 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, the bridge site adsorption for N = 2-5, 7, 10, 13-15, 17 and the face adsorption for N = 16, 18, 19. The adsorption abilities of Rh_N clusters are related to C-O bond length, vibrational frequency, adsorption energy and the charge transfer between CO and Rh clusters as well as the electronic density of state. With the increase of Rh cluster size, the adsorption energy of CO adsorbed on Rh_N clusters tends to be 2.2 eV-2.3 eV, which is 0.2 eV-0.3 eV larger than the theoretical value (about 2.0 eV) of CO molecule adsorption on clean Rh (111) surface.     

Deposition dynamics and chemical properties of size-selected Ir clusters on TiO2

We report a study of Ir_n/TiO₂ samples prepared by size and energy-selected deposition of Ir_n⁺ (n=1, 2, 5, 10, 15) on rutile TiO₂(1 1 0) at room temperatures. The Ir clusters are found to be formally in the zero oxidation state, and there are no significant shifts in Ir 4f binding energy with cluster size. Over a wide range of impact energies, both Ir XPS intensity and peak position are constant, indicating constant sticking coefficient, and no impact-driven redox chemistry. Low energy ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) suggests that the deposited Ir clusters remain largely intact, neither fragmenting nor agglomerating, and retaining 3-D structures for the larger sizes. For impact energies above 10 eV/atom, comparison of ISS and XPS data show that the Ir clusters are penetrating into the TiO₂ surface, with the extent of penetration increasing with both per atom energy and cluster size. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of CO is used to further characterize the deposited Ir_n. This system shows pronounced substrate-mediated adsorption (SMA) in low CO exposures, with strong dependence on cluster size. ISS and sputtering experiments indicate that CO adsorbed via SMA is bound differently than CO adsorbed in high dose experiments. In experiments with sequential C¹⁶O and C¹⁸O doses, facile C¹⁶O → C¹⁸O exchange is observed for Ir₅ and larger clusters, but not for Ir₂. The peak CO desorption temperature is found to decrease with cluster size. The cycle of CO adsorption and heating comprising a TPD experiment have a dramatic effect on the sample morphology, leading to encapsulation of Ir by a thin TiO_x layer.     

Density functional study of TaSin (n = 1-3, 12) clusters adsorbed to graphene surface

A plane-wave density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been performed to investigate structural and electronic properties of TaSi_n (n = 1-3, 12) clusters supported by graphene surface. The resulting adsorption structures are described and discussed in terms of stability, bonding, and electron transfer between the cluster and the graphene. The TaSi_n clusters on graphene surface favor their free-standing ground-state structures. Especially in the cases of the linear TaSi₂ and the planar TaSi₃, the graphene surface may catalyze the transition of the TaSi_n clusters from an isomer of lower dimensionality into the ground-state structure. The adsorption site and configuration of TaSi_n on graphene surface are dominated by the interaction between Ta atom and graphene. Ta atom prefers to adsorb on the hollow site of graphene, and Si atoms tend to locate on the bridge site. Further, the electron transfer is found to proceed from the cluster to the surface for n = 1 and 2, while its direction reverses as n > 2. For the case of TaSi, chemisorption is shown to prevail over physisorption as the dominant mode of surface-adsorbate interaction by charge density analysis.     

Oxygen adsorption and oxidation reactions on Au(2 1 1) surfaces: Exposures using O2 at high pressures and ozone (O3) in UHV

Nanosized gold particles supported on reducible metal oxides have been reported to show high catalytic activity toward CO oxidation at low temperature. This has generated great scientific and technological interest, and there have been many proposals to explain this unusual activity. One intriguing explanation that can be tested is that of Nørskov and coworkers [Catal. Lett. 64 (2000) 101] who suggested that the “unusually large catalytic activity of highly-dispersed Au particles may in part be due to high step densities on the small particles and/or strain effects due to the mismatch at the Au-support interface”. In particular, their calculations indicated that the Au(2 1 1) stepped surface would be much more reactive towards O₂ dissociative adsorption and CO adsorption than the Au(1 1 1) surface. We have now studied the adsorption of O₂ and O₃ (ozone) on an Au(2 1 1) stepped surface. We find that molecular oxygen (O₂) was not activated to dissociate and produce oxygen adatoms on the stepped Au(2 1 1) surface even under high-pressure (700 Torr) conditions with the sample at 300-450 K. Step sites do bind oxygen adatoms more tightly than do terrace sites, and this was probed by using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of O₂ following ozone (O₃) exposures to produce oxygen adatoms up to a saturation coverage of θ_O = 0.90 ML. In the low-coverage regime (θ_O ? 0.15 ML), the O₂ TPD peak at 540 K, which does not shift with coverage, is attributed to oxygen adatoms that are bound at the steps on the Au(2 1 1) surface. At higher coverages, an additional lower temperature desorption peak that shifts from 515 to 530 K at saturation coverage is attributed to oxygen adsorbed on the (1 1 1) terrace sites of the Au(2 1 1) surface. Although the desorption kinetics are likely to be quite complex, a simple Redhead analysis gives an estimate of the desorption activation energy, E_d, for the step-adsorbed oxygen of 34 kcal/mol and that for oxygen at the terraces near saturation coverage of 33 kcal/mol, values that are similar to others reported on Au surfaces. Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) indicates an oxygen-induced step doubling on the Au(2 1 1) surface at low-coverages (θ_O = 0.08-0.17 ML) and extensive disruption of the 2D ordering at the surface for saturation coverages of oxygen (θ_O ? 0.9 ML). Overall, our results indicate that unstrained step sites on Au(2 1 1) surfaces of dispersed Au nanoparticles do not account for the novel reactivity of supported Au catalysts for CO oxidation.