Geometry optimization of carbon dioxide clusters (CO2)n for 4 < or = n < or = 40

Geometry optimization of carbon dioxide clusters (CO2)n with the size of 4 < or = n < or = 40 is performed by a heuristic and unbiased method combined with geometrical perturbations. Comparison with the global minima reported in the literature shows that the present method reproduces the global minima for clusters with n = 6, 8, 13, 19, 28, 30, and 32 and yields new global minima for (CO2)23, (CO2)25, and (CO2)35. For the other clusters under investigation, global minima are first reported in this article. Structural features of CO2 clusters and efficiency of the optimization method are discussed.     

Geometrical and electronic structures of Au(m)Ag(n) (2 < or = m + n < or = 8)

The structural and electronic properties of Au(m)Ag(n) binary clusters (2 < or = m + n < or = 8) have been investigated by density functional theory with relativistic effective core potentials. The results indicate that Au atoms tend to occupy the surface of Au(m)Ag(n) clusters (n > or = 2 and m > or = 2). As a result, segregation of small or big bimetallic clusters can be explained according to the atomic mass. The binding energies of the most stable Au(m)Ag(n) clusters increase with increasing m+n. The vertical ionization potentials of the most stable Au(m)Ag(n) clusters show odd-even oscillations with changing m+n. The possible dissociation channels of the clusters considered are also discussed.     

Global optimization study of small (10 < or = N < or = 120) Pd clusters supported on MgO(100)

Experimental evidence suggests that Pd clusters on MgO, known to be good reaction catalysts, have face centered cubic (fcc) epitaxial structures. The structure of such clusters is the result of the interplay of Pd-Pd and Pd-substrate bonds, the former inclined to favor icosahedral (Ih) and decahedral (Dh)-like structures, the latter leading to place Pd atoms on top of oxygen sites, according to an epitaxial stacking. This paper shows the results of a basin-hopping global optimization procedure applied to free and MgO-supported Pd clusters in the size range 10 < or = N < or = 120. Pd-MgO interactions are modeled by an analytical function fitted to ab initio results, while Pd-Pd interactions are modeled by a semiempirical potential. Besides the tight-binding Rosato-Guillopé-Legrand (RGL) potential, we have adopted a modified version of RGL that better reproduces the experimental surface energy of palladium, modifying the attractive part of Pd atoms potential energy. We have compared the two potential models, and as a result, the RGL potential favors clusters with epitaxial arrangements, so that cluster structures are epitaxial fcc in almost all the size ranges considered. On the contrary, the alternative potential model preserves some Ih-like characteristics typical of the free Pd clusters, and it suggests that a transition size from Ih-like to epitaxial structures can take place at about 100 atoms.     

CO与Pdn（n=1-8）团簇的相互作用

采用密度泛函理论对CO与钯团簇的相互作用进行了系统研究.结果表明,PdnCO(n=1-8)体系的最低能量结构是在Pdn(n=1-8)团簇最低能最结构或亚稳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,其吸附没有改变Pdn团簇的结构;CO分子在Pdn团簇表面发生的是非解离性吸附.与优化的CO键长(0.1166 nm)相比,除了n=2,团簇PdnCO的C-O键长为0.1167-0.1168 nm,吸附后C-O键长变化较小,CO分子被活化程度较小.电荷集居数分析表明,CO的吸附对Pdn团簇的影响比较小;二阶能量差分表明,n=4,6的团簇是相对稳定的团簇.     

Time-resolved relaxation dynamics of Hgn- (11 <or = n <or = 16,n = 18) clusters following intraband excitation at 1.5 eV

Electron-nuclear relaxation dynamics are studied in Hg(n) (-) (11 相似文献   

A molecular beam study of the NO + CO reaction on Pd(111) surfaces

Nitric oxide (NO) reduction with carbon monoxide (CO) on the Pd(111) surface was studied under isothermal conditions by molecular beam techniques as a function of temperature, NO:CO beam composition, and beam flux. Systematic experiments were performed under transient and steady state conditions. Displacement of adsorbed CO by NO in the transient state of the reaction was observed at temperatures between 375 and 475 K for all the NO:CO compositions studied. NO accumulation occurs on Pd(111) surface under steady state conditions, below 475 K, due to stronger chemisorption of NO. The steady state reaction rates attain a maximum at about 475 K, nearly independent of beam composition. N2 was found to be the major product of the reduction, along with a minor production of N2O. The production of N2 and N2O indicates molecular and dissociative adsorption of NO on Pd(111) at temperatures up to 525 K. Postreaction TPD measurements were performed in order to determine the nitrogen coverage under steady-state conditions. Finally, the results are discussed with respect to the rate-controlling character of the different elementary steps of the reaction system.     

Ab initio study of neutral and charged SinNap(+) (n <or= 6, p <or= 2) clusters

Ab initio calculations in the framework of the density functional theory, with B3LYP functional, are performed to study the lowest-energy isomers of silicon sodium clusters Si(n)Na(p)(+) (n 相似文献   

Theoretical study of the structural and electronic properties of SimGen and SimGen- (s = m + n <or= 7) clusters

Ground-state structures, vibrational frequencies, HOMO-LUMO energy gap, electron affinities, and cluster mixing energy of binary semiconductor clusters SimGen in the range s = m + n 相似文献   

Experimental structure determination of silver cluster ions (Ag(n) +, 19 < or = n < or = 79)

The structures of mass selected silver cluster cations Ag19 +, Ag38 +, Ag55 +, Ag59 +, Ag75 +, and Ag79 + have been probed at a temperature of 100 K by trapped ion electron diffraction. The structure assignment is carried out by comparison of the experimental scattering intensity with theoretical scattering functions of calculated candidate structures obtained by density functional theory. For the cluster sizes studied the resulting experimental data are invariably best described by structures based on the icosahedral motif, while closed packed structures can be ruled out.     

Stability of small Pdn (n=1-7) clusters on the basis of structural and electronic properties: a density functional approach

Density functional calculations within the generalized gradient approximation have been used to investigate the lowest energy electronic and geometric structures of neutral, cationic, and anionic Pd(n) (n=1-7) clusters in the gas phase. In this study, we have examined three different spin multiplicities (M=1, 3, and 5) for different possible structural isomers of each neutral cluster. The calculated lowest energy structures of the neutral clusters are found to have multiplicities, M=1 for Pd(1), Pd(3), Pd(5), Pd(6), and Pd(7), while M=3 for Pd(2) and Pd(4). We have also determined the lowest energy states of cationic and anionic Pd(n) (n=1-7) clusters, formed from the most stable neutral clusters, in three spin multiplicities (M=2, 4, and 6). Bond length, coordination number, binding energy, fragmentation energy, bond dissociation energy, ionization potential, electron affinity, chemical hardness, and electric dipole moment of the optimized clusters are compared with experimental and other theoretical results available in the literature. Based on these criteria, we predict the four-atom palladium cluster to be a magic-number cluster.     

Structural evolution of anionic silicon clusters SiN (20 <or= N <or= 45)

Results of a combined photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles density-functional study of SiN- clusters in the size range 20 or= 20. For 28 相似文献   

First-principles study of electronic and magnetic properties of Co(n)Mn(m) and Co(n)V(m) (m + n < or = 6) clusters

The electronic and magnetic properties of small Co(n)Mn(m) and Co(n)V(m) (m + n < or = 6) clusters are systematically studied using density functional theory. The results show that Co and V atoms prefer to aggregate in Co-Mn and Co-V clusters, respectively. Significant magnetic moment enhancement in Co-Mn clusters with Mn doping and reduction in Co-V clusters with V doping are found, consistent with experiment results for larger clusters [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 98, 113401]. The results are discussed by analyzing the magnetic coupling type and local magnetic moment on each atoms. Density of states and vertical ionization potentials are calculated and show cluster size dependent behavior.     

C-H activation of alkanes on Rh+ n (n=1-30) clusters: size effects on dehydrogenation

The rate coefficients for the dehydrogenation of ethane, propane, and isobutane with cationic rhodium atoms Rh+ and clusters Rh+ n of up to 30 atoms were measured under single-collision conditions in a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. The reaction rates are cluster size dependent and parallel for all the three alkanes. While the reactions proceed close to the theoretical collision rates for a large number of clusters, characteristic minima are observed for Rh+ (5/6/9/19/28). The degree of dehydrogenation varies with the cluster size with maxima for 10< or =n< or =15 for the three alkanes and for n=3 and 2-4 in the cases of ethane and propane, respectively. However, complete dehydrogenation is only observed for the reaction of Rh+ 11 with propane. Dehydrogenation is remarkably selective and no other neutral products than H2 are observed. The results are interpreted in terms of likely cluster geometries.     

Hydrogen dissociative chemisorption and desorption on saturated subnano palladium clusters (Pdn, n = 2-9)

H(2) sequential dissociative chemisorption on small palladium clusters was studied using density functional theory. The chosen clusters Pd(n) (n = 2-9) are of the lowest energy structures for each n. H(2) dissociative chemisorption and subsequent H atom migration on the bare Pd clusters were found to be nearly barrierless. The dissociative chemisorption energy of H(2) and the desorption energy of H atom in general decrease with the coverage of H atoms and thus the catalytic efficiency decreases as the H loading increases. These energies at full cluster saturation were identified and found to vary in small energy ranges regardless of cluster size. As H loading increases, the clusters gradually change their bonding from metallic character to covalent character. For the selected Pd clusters, the capacity to adsorb H atoms increases almost proportionally with cluster size; however, it was found that the capacity of Pd clusters to adsorb H atoms is, on average, substantially smaller than that of small Pt clusters, suggesting that the catalytic efficiency of Pt nanoparticles is superior to Pd nanoparticles in catalyzing dissociative chemisorption of H(2) molecules.     

Computational study on the negative electron affinities of NO2 -.(H2O)n clusters (n=0-30)

Here we report negative electron affinities of NO(2)(-).(H2O)n clusters (n=0-30) obtained from density functional theory calculations and a simple correction to Koopmans' theorem. The method relies on the calculation of the detachment energy of the monoanion and its highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies, and explicit calculations on the dianion itself are avoided. A good agreement with resonances in the cross section for neutral production in electron scattering experiments is found for n=0, 1, and 2. We find several isomeric structures of NO(2)(-).(H2O)2 of similar energy that elucidate the interplay between water-water and ion-water interactions. The topology is predicted to influence the electron affinity by 0.5 and 0.4 eV for NO(2)(-).(H2O) and NO(2)(-).(H2O)2, respectively. The electron affinity of larger clusters is shown to follow a (n+delta)-1/3 dependence, where delta=3 represents the number of water molecules that in volume, could replace NO(2) (-).     

Hydrogen-bonded networks in ethanol proton wires: IR spectra of (EtOH)qH+-Ln clusters (L = Ar/N2, q < or = 4, n < or = 5)

Isolated and microsolvated protonated ethanol clusters, (EtOH)qH+-Ln with L = Ar and N2, are characterized by infrared photodissociation (IRPD) spectroscopy in the 3 microm range and quantum chemical calculations. For comparison, also the spectrum of the protonated methanol dimer, (MeOH)2H+, is presented. The IRPD spectra carry the signature of H-bonded (EtOH)qH+ chain structures, in which the excess proton is either strongly localized on one or (nearly) equally shared between two EtOH molecules, corresponding to Eigen-type ion cores (EtOH2+ for q = 1, 3) or Zundel-type ion cores (EtOH-H+-HOEt for q = 2, 4), respectively. In contrast to neutral (EtOH)q clusters, no cyclic (EtOH)qH+ isomers are detected in the size range investigated (q < or = 4), indicative of the substantial impact of the excess proton on the properties of the H-bonded ethanol network. The acidity of the two terminal OH groups in the (EtOH)qH+ chains decreases with the length of the chain (q). Comparison between (ROH)qH+ with R = CH3 and C2H5 shows that the acidity of the terminal O-H groups increases with the length of the aliphatic rest (R). The most stable (EtOH)qH+-Ln clusters with n < or = 2 feature intermolecular H-bonds between the inert ligands and the two available terminal OH groups of the (EtOH)qH+ chain. Asymmetric microsolvation of (EtOH)qH+ with q = 2 and 4 promotes a switch from Zundel-type to Eigen-type cores, demonstrating that the fundamental structural motif of the (EtOH)qH+ proton wire sensitively depends on the environment. The strength of the H-bonds between L and (EtOH)qH+ is shown to provide a rather sensitive probe of the acidity of the terminal OH groups.     

Pdn(n=2～13)团簇的密度泛函理论研究

采用密度泛函理论B3LYP方法计算并讨论钯原子团簇Pdn(n=2～13)结构模型.通过对钯原子团簇进行几何构型优化和振动频率计算,找出团簇总能量最低的同分异构体.由于Jahn-Teller效应的存在,团簇的最稳定结构采取对称性较低的几何构型.在钯原子数相同时,往往存在多个能量极为相近的稳定构型.单位原子平均静态极化率呈奇偶变化.     

Structural and electronic properties of Si(n), Si(n)-, and PSi(n-1) clusters (2 < or = n < or = 13): Theoretical investigation based on ab initio molecular orbital theory

The geometric and electronic structures of Si(n), Si(n)-, and PSi(n-1) clusters (2 < or = n < or = 13) have been investigated using the ab initio molecular orbital theory formalism. The hybrid exchange-correlation energy functional (B3LYP) and a standard split-valence basis set with polarization functions (6-31+G(d)) were employed to optimize geometrical configurations. The total energies of the lowest energy isomers thus obtained were recalculated at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. Unlike positively charged clusters, which showed similar structural behavior as that of neutral clusters [Nigam et al., J. Chem. Phys. 121, 7756 (2004)], significant geometrical changes were observed between Si(n) and Si(n)- clusters for n = 6, 8, 11, and 13. However, the geometries of P substituted silicon clusters show similar growth as that of negatively charged Si(n) clusters with small local distortions. The relative stability as a function of cluster size has been verified based on their binding energies, second difference in energy (Delta2 E), and fragmentation behavior. In general, the average binding energy of Si(n)- clusters is found to be higher than that of Si(n) clusters. For isoelectronic PSi(n-1) clusters, it is found that although for small clusters (n < 4) substitution of P atom improves the binding energy of Si(n) clusters, for larger clusters (n > or = 4) the effect is opposite. The fragmentation behavior of these clusters reveals that while small clusters prefer to evaporate monomer, the larger ones dissociate into two stable clusters of smaller size. The adiabatic electron affinities of Si(n) clusters and vertical detachment energies of Si(n)- clusters were calculated and compared with available experimental results. Finally, a good agreement between experimental and our theoretical results suggests good prediction of the lowest energy isomeric structures for all clusters calculated in the present study.     

Structures, rugged energetic landscapes, and nanothermodynamics of Al(n) (2 <or= n <or= 65) particles

Metal nanoparticles are important in several emerging technologies, but their size-selected thermodynamic properties are hard to obtain from experiment. We have characterized the energetic and structural properties of unsupported neutral Aln (2 相似文献   

Structure and stability of binary transition-metal clusters (NbCo)n (n < or = 5): a relativistic density-functional study

Equilibrium geometries and electronic properties of binary transition-metal clusters, (NbCo)n (n < or = 5), have been investigated by means of the relativistic density-functional approach. The metal-metal bonding and stability aspects of these clusters have been analyzed on the basis of calculations. Present results show that these clusters exhibit rich structural varieties on the potential-energy surfaces. The most stable structures have a compact conformation in relatively high symmetry, in which the Nb atoms prefer to form an inner core and Co atoms are capped to the facets of the core. Such building features in clustering of the Nb/Co system are related to the order of bond strength: Nb-Nb>Nb-Co>Co-Co. As the binary cluster size increases, the Nb-Co bond may become stronger than the Nb-Nb bond in the inner niobium core, which results in a remarkable increment of the Nb-Nb bond length. Amongst these binary transition-metal clusters, the singlet (NbCo)4 in T(d) symmetry has a striking high stability due to the presence of the spherical aromaticity and electronic shell closure. The size dependence of the bond length and stability of the cluster has been explored.