Theoretical investigation on RuO2 nanoclusters adsorbed on TiO2 rutile (110) and anatase (101) surfaces

Minimizing the energy of an $N$ -electron system as a functional of a two-electron reduced density matrix (2-RDM), constrained by necessary $N$ -representability conditions (conditions for the 2-RDM to represent an ensemble $N$ -electron quantum system), yields a rigorous lower bound to the ground-state energy in contrast to variational wave function methods. We characterize the performance of two sets of approximate constraints, (2,2)-positivity (DQG) and approximate (2,3)-positivity (DQGT) conditions, at capturing correlation in one-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional (ladder) Hubbard models. We find that, while both the DQG and DQGT conditions capture both the weak and strong correlation limits, the more stringent DQGT conditions improve the ground-state energies, the natural occupation numbers, the pair correlation function, the effective hopping, and the connected (cumulant) part of the 2-RDM. We observe that the DQGT conditions are effective at capturing strong electron correlation effects in both one- and quasi-one-dimensional lattices for both half filling and less-than-half filling.     

Adsorption of organic molecules on rutile TiO2 and anatase TiO2 single crystal surfaces

The interaction of organic molecules with titanium dioxide surfaces has been the subject of many studies over the last few decades. Numerous surface science techniques have been utilised to understand the often complex nature of these systems. The reasons for studying these systems are hugely diverse given that titanium dioxide has many technological and medical applications. Although surface science experiments investigating the adsorption of organic molecules on titanium dioxide surfaces is not a new area of research, the field continues to change and evolve as new potential applications are discovered and new techniques to study the systems are developed. This tutorial review aims to update previous reviews on the subject. It describes experimental and theoretical work on the adsorption of carboxylic acids, dye molecules, amino acids, alcohols, catechols and nitrogen containing compounds on single crystal TiO(2) surfaces.     

Adsorption properties versus oxidation states of rutile TiO2(110)

Using density functional theory we have studied the adsorption properties of different atoms and molecules deposited on a stoichiometric, reduced, and oxidized rutile TiO(2)(110) surface. Depending on the oxidation state of the surface, electrons can flow from or to the substrate and, therefore, negatively or positively charged species are expected. In particular, we have found that a charge transfer process from or to the surface always occurs for highly electronegative or highly electropositive species, respectively. For atoms or molecules with intermediate electron affinity, the direction of the charge flow depends on the oxidation state of the rutile surface and on the adsorption site. Generally, the charging effect leads to more stable complexes. However, the increase in the binding energy of the adsorbates is highly dependent on the electronic states of the surface prior to the adsorption event. In this work we have analyzed in details these mechanisms and we have also established a direct correlation between the enhanced binding energy of the adsorbates and the induced gap states.     

First-principles calculations of hydrogen diffusion on rutile TiO2(110) surfaces

Density functional calculations are performed to study the H-atom diffusion on titanium dioxide (110) surface in the cases of water-molecule dissociation and splitting of the adjacent hydroxyl OH pair. It is shown that, when a water molecule is adsorbed at a surface oxygen-vacancy site, a fragment H atom of the water molecule tends to diffuse toward the nearest-neighboring bridging-oxygen sites by using a straight-line or relay-point path. As the result, a pair of surface hydroxyl OH is formed on the same oxygen row. In a thermal process, on the other hand, such OH pair favorably splits only by using a relay-point path, i.e., by transferring one H atom from a bridging-oxygen site to a next-neighboring one along the same oxygen row by way of another in-plane oxygen site. We found that the latter splitting reaction is activated around room temperature.     

Adsorption of water on reconstructed rutile TiO2(011)-(2 x 1): Ti=O double bonds and surface reactivity

Recent combined experimental and theoretical studies (Beck et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 2004, 93, 036104) have provided evidence for Ti=O double-bonded titanyl groups on the reconstructed rutile TiO(2)(011)-(2 x 1) surface. The adsorption of water on the same surface is now investigated to further probe the properties of these groups, as well as to confirm their existence. Ultraviolet photoemission experiments show that water is adsorbed in molecular form at a sample temperature of 110 K. At the same time, the presence of a 3sigma state in the photoemission spectra and work function measurements indicate a significant amount of hydroxyls within the first monolayer of water. At room temperature, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) suggests that dissociated water is present, and about 30% of the surface active sites are hydroxylated. These findings are well explained by total energy density functional theory calculations and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations for water adsorption on the titanyl model of TiO(2)(011)-(2 x 1). The theoretical results show that a mixed molecular/dissociative layer is the most stable configuration in the monolayer regime at low temperatures, while complete dissociation takes place at 250 K. The arrangement of the protonated mono-coordinated oxygens in the mixed molecular/dissociated layer is consistent with the observed short-range order of the hydroxyls in the STM images.     

Adsorption and assembly of copper phthalocyanine on cross-linked TiO2(110)-(1 x 2) and TiO2(210)

Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on reconstructed rutile TiO(2) was studied with ultrahigh vacuum variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. On cross-linked TiO(2)(110)-(1 x 2), the CuPc molecules at low coverages sparsely lay flat at the link sites and tilted in troughs between [001] rows. Increase of the CuPc coverage led to the trapping of the CuPc molecules by the rectangular surface cells fenced by the oxygen columns along the [001] direction and the cross-link rows. Each cell could trap one CuPc molecule at intermediate coverages and two CuPc molecules at higher coverages. On TiO(2)(210), the CuPc molecules tilted in defect-free areas and lay at defect sites with their molecular planes parallel to the substrate surface. Further increase of the CuPc coverage induced the formation of one- and two-dimensional assemblies on TiO(2)(210).     

Chemical reactions on rutile TiO2(110)

Understanding the surface chemistry of TiO2 is key to the development and optimisation of many technologies, such as solar power, catalysis, gas sensing, medical implantation, and corrosion protection. In order to address this, considerable research effort has been directed at model single crystal surfaces of TiO2. Particular attention has been given to the rutile TiO2(110) surface because it is the most stable face of TiO2. In this critical review, we discuss the chemical reactivity of TiO2(110), focusing in detail on four molecules/classes of molecules. The selected molecules are water, oxygen, carboxylic acids, and alcohols-all of which have importance not only to industry but also in nature (173 references).     

A DFT+U study of acetylene selective hydrogenation on oxygen defective anatase (101) and rutile (110) TiO2 supported Pd4 cluster

The reaction mechanisms for selective acetylene hydrogenation on three different supports, Pd(4) cluster, oxygen defective anatase (101), and rutile (110) titania supported Pd(4), cluster are studied using the density functional theory calculations with a Hubbard U correction (DFT+U). The present calculations show that the defect anatase support binds Pd(4) cluster more strongly than that of rutile titania due to the existence of Ti(3+) in anatase titania. Consequently, the binding energies of adsorbed species such as acetylene and ethylene on Pd(4) cluster become weaker on anatase supported catalysts compared to the rutile supported Pd(4) cluster. Anatase catalyst has higher selectivity of acetylene hydrogenation than rutile catalyst. On the one hand, the activation energies of ethylene formation are similar on the two catalysts, while they vary a lot on ethyl formation. The rutile supported Pd catalyst with lower activation energy is preferable for further hydrogenation. On the other hand, the relatively weak adsorption energy of ethylene is gained on anatase surface, which means it is easier for ethylene desorption, hence getting higher selectivity. For further understanding, the energy decomposition method and micro-kinetic analysis are also introduced.     

Computational study of ethanol adsorption and reaction over rutile TiO(2) (110) surfaces

Studies of the modes of adsorption and the associated changes in electronic structures of renewable organic compounds are needed in order to understand the fundamentals behind surface reactions of catalysts for future energies. Using planewave density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the adsorption of ethanol on perfect and O-defected TiO(2) rutile (110) surfaces was examined. On both surfaces the dissociative adsorption mode on five-fold coordinated Ti cations (Ti(4+)(5c)) was found to be more favourable than the molecular adsorption mode. On the stoichiometric surface E(ads) was found to be equal to 0.85 eV for the ethoxide mode and equal to 0.76 eV for the molecular mode. These energies slightly increased when adsorption occurred on the Ti(4+)(5c) closest to the O-defected site. However, both considerably increased when adsorption occurred at the removed bridging surface O; interacting with Ti(3+) cations. In this case the dissociative adsorption becomes strongly favoured (E(ads) = 1.28 eV for molecular adsorption and 2.27 eV for dissociative adsorption). Geometry and electronic structures of adsorbed ethanol were analysed in detail on the stoichiometric surface. Ethanol does not undergo major changes in its structure upon adsorption with its C-O bond rotating nearly freely on the surface. Bonding to surface Ti atoms is a σ type transfer from the O2p of the ethanol-ethoxide species. Both ethanol and ethoxide present potential hole traps on O lone pairs. Charge density and work function analyses also suggest charge transfer from the adsorbate to the surface, in which the dissociative adsorptions show a larger charge transfer than the molecular adsorption mode.     

Intrinsic diffusion of hydrogen on rutile TiO2(110)

The combined experimental and theoretical study of intrinsic hydrogen diffusion on bridge-bonded oxygen (BBO) rows of TiO 2(110) is presented. Sequences of isothermal scanning tunneling microscopy images demonstrate a complex behavior of hydrogen formed by water dissociation on BBO vacancies. Different diffusion rates are observed for the two hydrogens in the original geminate OH pair suggesting the presence of a long-lived polaronic state. For the case of separated hydroxyls, both theory and experiment yield comparable temperature-dependent diffusion rates. Density functional theory calculations show that there are two comparable low energy diffusion pathways for hydrogen motion along the BBO from one BBO to its neighbor, one by a direct hop and the other by an intermediate minimum at a terrace O. The values of kinetic parameters (prefactors and diffusion barriers) determined experimentally and theoretically are significantly different and indicate the presence of a more complex diffusion mechanism. We speculate that the hydrogen diffusion proceeds via a two-step mechanism: the initial diffusion of localized charge, followed by the diffusion of hydrogen. Both experiment and theory show the presence of repulsive OH-OH interactions.     

Prediction of tetraoxygen formation on rutile TiO2(110)

In this paper, we propose a new adsorption model for molecular oxygen on reduced TiO2(110), based on extensive first principles density functional calculations. For the first time, our calculations predict formation of tetraoxygen (O4) anchored at the vacancy site, which in turn allows adsorption of three O2 molecules per vacancy in saturation coverage. We present the structure, bonding, and energetics of adsorbed oxygen species by changing the number of adsorbed oxygen molecules per vacancy. We also find that thermally activated O2 desorption may take place via two channels that require overcoming barriers of 0.41 and 1.25 eV, respectively. In addition, our study provides strong theoretical evidence for the change in O2 reactivity with O2 coverage. Our findings associated with tetraoxygen complexes are consistent with existing experimental results.     

Photoluminescence of anatase and rutile TiO2 particles

Nonaqueous reactions between titanium(IV) chloride and alcohols (benzyl alcohol or n-butanol) were used for the synthesis of anatase TiO2 particles, while rutile TiO2 particles were synthesized in aqueous media by acidic hydrolysis of titanium(IV) chloride. The X-ray diffraction measurements proved the exclusive presence of either the anatase or the rutile phase in prepared samples. The photoluminescence of both kinds of particles (anatase and rutile) with several well-resolved peaks extending in the visible spectral region was observed, and the quantum yield at room temperature was found to be 0.25%. Photon energy up-conversion from colloidal anatase and rutile TiO2 particles was observed at low excitation intensities. The energy of up-converted photoluminescence spans the range of emission of normal photoluminescence. The explanation of photon energy up-conversion involves mid-gap energy levels originating from oxygen vacancies.     

Thermal and photochemistry of tert-butyl iodide on rutile TiO2(110)

The thermal and photochemistry of tert-butyl iodide (t-buI) dosed at 100 K on rutile TiO2(110) has been studied using isothermal and temperature programmed desorption mass spectrometry. Nondissociative adsorption and desorption dominate the thermal behavior with dose-dependent t-buI desorption peaks at nominally 220 and 150 K. Ultraviolet photochemistry occurs readily, but the behavior of submonolayers and multilayers differ qualitatively. Ejection of t-buI and i-C4H8 dominate during submonolayer photolysis at 100 K. Multilayer photolysis results are also dominated by ejection during irradiation, but the t-buI component is strongly suppressed, and the maximum rates of i-C4H8 and HI ejection did not occur at the outset. A mechanistic model capturing the observations involves both direct and substrate-mediated electronic excitation of t-buI. According to this model, ejection of t-buI occurs only from transient substrate-mediated formation of anionic t-buI. For either excitation path, the C-I dissociation probability is significant, and the excited tert-butyl product rearranges readily to form i-C4H8 that is ejected. For any local region where there is multilayer coverage, products formed at the adsorbate-vacuum interface are ejected promptly, but products formed within the multilayer are trapped. Thus, ejection of t-buI is suppressed, and trapped primary photodissociation products, tert-butyl and I, react to either reform t-buI or rearrange to i-C4H8 and HI. The latter two products remain trapped and are subsequently induced to desorb by acquisition of momentum from collisions with subsequently formed translationally excited photodissociation products.     

Adsorption geometry, molecular interaction, and charge transfer of triphenylamine-based dye on rutile TiO2(110)

The fast development of new organic sensitizers leads to the need for a better understanding of the complexity and significance of their adsorption processes on TiO(2) surfaces. We have investigated a prototype of the triphenylamine-cyanoacrylic acid (donor-acceptor) on rutile TiO(2) (110) surface with special attention on the monolayer region. This molecule belongs to the type of dye, some of which so far has delivered the record efficiency of 10%-10.3% for pure organic sensitizers [W. Zeng, Y. Cao, Y. Bai, Y. Wang, Y. Shi, M. Zhang, F. Wang, C. Pan, and P. Wang, Chem. Mater. 22, 1915 (2010)]. The molecular configuration of this dye on the TiO(2) surface was found to vary with coverage and adopt gradually an upright geometry, as determined from near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Due to the molecular interaction within the increasingly dense packed layer, the molecular electronic structure changes systematically: all energy levels shift to higher binding energies, as shown by photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, the investigation of charge delocalization within the molecule was carried out by means of resonant photoelectron spectroscopy. A fast delocalization (～1.8 fs) occurs at the donor part while a competing process between delocalization and localization takes place at the acceptor part. This depicts the "push-pull" concept in donor-acceptor molecular system in time scale.     

Adsorption of CO2 on oxidized, defected, hydrogen and oxygen covered rutile (1 x 1)-TiO2(110)

Presented are initial, S(0) and coverage, Theta, dependent S(Theta), adsorption probability measurements of CO(2) as a function of impact energy, E(i) = 0.12-1.3 eV, adsorption temperature, T(s) = 85-300 K, hydrogen and oxygen pre-exposure, as well as density of defects, Gamma, as varied by annealing (T = 600-900 K) and Ar(+) ion sputtering (dose chi(Ar) at 600 eV at 85 K) of a rutile (1 x 1) TiO(2)(110) surface. The defect densities were qualitatively characterized by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) of CO(2). The CO(2) TDS curves consisted of two structures that can be assigned to adsorption on pristine and oxygen vacancy sites, in agreement with earlier studies. S(0) decreased linearly with E(i) and was independent of T(s). The adsorption dynamics were dominated by the effect of precursor states leading to Kisliuk-like shapes over the E(i) and T(s) range studied. Oxygen vacancy sites reduced S(0) of CO(2). Preadsorbed oxygen blocked preferentially defect sites, which led to an increase in S(0). Hydrogen preadsorption results in physical site blocking with decreased S(0) as H-preexposure increased, while the shape of S(Theta) curves was conserved. In contrast to oxygen, hydrogen does not adsorb preferentially on defect sites. The adsorption probability data were parameterized by analytic functions (Kisliuk model) and by Monte Carlo simulations (MCSs).     

First-row transition metal atoms adsorption on rutile TiO2(110) surface

We performed periodic DFT calculations for adsorption of metal atoms on a perfect rutile TiO₂(110) surface (at low coverage, ???=?1/3) to investigate the interaction of an individual metal atom with TiO₂ and to compare it with a study previously done on MgO(100). We considered partial period of Mendeleev??s table from K to Zn. The overall evolution of the adsorption energies shows two maxima as for MgO(100). Two main differences, however, exist: the adsorption energy is much stronger and the first maximum is enhanced relative to the second one. This is attributed to the reducibility of the surface titanium cation. When the adsorbed metal is electropositive, it is oxidized under adsorption transferring electrons to titanium cations. We present the effect of introducing a Hubbard term to the gradient-corrected approximation band-structure Hamiltonian (GGA?+?U). The introduction of a reasonable Hubbard correction preserves the trends and allows localizing the electron of the reduction on Ti atoms in the near surface region. Finally, our results conclude that for heavier M atoms of the period, insertion is energetically favored relative to adsorption.     

Adsorption of small organic molecules on anatase and rutile surfaces: a theoretical study

The adsorption of several small organic molecules on rutile (110) and (100) as well as on anatase (101) surfaces was investigated by Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics in aqueous solution and a new approach to the calculation of adsorption energies is proposed, taking into account the potential energy fluctuation of larger systems. Acetylene and ethylene insert into twin oxygen vacancies in the surface and form polarized covalent Ti-C bonds. In one case spontaneous coupling of two acetylene molecules to a C(4)H(3) molecule with a structure similar to trans-butadiene was observed. Neutral catechol and the singly charged anion were not reactive on any titanium dioxide surface, but the twofold-charged anion attained stable mono- and bidentated geometries on anatase. Methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde adsorbed with their functional groups. Very stable geometries provide a Ti-O bond and have adsorption energies of 60-200 kJ/mol. The adsorbates compete with water molecules for similar adsorption sites in point defects as well as on perfect surfaces.     

Ethanol photo-oxidation on a rutile TiO2(110) single crystal surface

The reaction of ethanol has been studied on the surface of rutile TiO(2)(110) by Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD), online mass spectrometry under UV excitation and photoelectron spectroscopy while the adsorption energies of the molecular and dissociative modes of ethanol were computed using the DFT/GGA method. The most stable configuration is the dissociative adsorption in line with experimental results at room temperature. At 0.5 ML coverage the adsorption energy was found equal to 80 kJ mol(-1) for the dissociative mode (ethoxide, CH(3)CH(2)O(a) + H(a)) followed by the molecular mode (67 kJ mol(-1)). The orientation of the ethoxides along the [001] or [110] direction had minor effect on the adsorption energy although affected differently the Ti and O surface atomic positions. TPD after ethanol adsorption at 300 K indicated two main reactions: dehydration to ethylene and dehydrogenation to acetaldehyde. Pre-dosing the surface with ethanol at 300 K followed by exposure to UV resulted in the formation of acetaldehyde and hydrogen. The amount of acetaldehyde could be directly linked to the presence of gas phase O(2) in the vacuum chamber. The order of this photo-catalytic reaction with respect to O(2) was found to be 0.5. Part of acetaldehyde further reacted with O(2) under UV excitation to give surface acetate species. Because the rate of photo-oxidation of acetates (acetic acid) was slower than that of ethoxides (ethanol), the surface ended up by being covered with large amounts of acetates. A reaction mechanism for acetaldehyde, hydrogen and acetate formation under UV excitation is proposed.     

Preparation of self-supporting hierarchical nanostructured anatase/rutile composite TiO(2) film

Via the combination of an electrospinning method with a hydrothermal reaction, a large-scale cedar-like hierarchical nanostructured TiO(2) film with an anatase/rutile composite phase was fabricated.