The Interplay Between Lead Vacancy and Water Rationalizes the Puzzle of Charge Carrier Lifetimes in CH3NH3PbI3: Time‐Domain Ab Initio Analysis

The perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI₃ excited‐state lifetimes exhibit conflicting experimental results under humid environments. Using ab initio nonadiabatic (NA) molecular dynamics, we demonstrate that the interplay between lead vacancy and water can rationalize the puzzle. The lead vacancy reduces NA coupling by localizing holes, slowing electron–hole recombination. By creating a deep electron trap state, the coexistence of a neutral lead vacancy and water molecules enhances NA coupling, accelerating charge recombination by a factor of over 3. By eliminating the mid‐gap state by accepting two photoexcited electrons, the negatively charged lead vacancy interacting with water molecules increases the carrier lifetime over 2 times longer than in the pristine system. The simulations rationalize the positive and negative effects of water on the solar cell performance exposure to humidity.     

Charge Localization Induced by Reorientation of FA Cations Greatly Suppresses Nonradiative Electron-Hole Recombination in FAPbl3 Perovskites: a Time-Domain Ab Initio Study

Recent experiments report the rotation of FA (FA = HC[NH₂]₂\begin{document}$ ^+ $\end{document}) cations significantly influence the excited-state lifetime of FAPbI₃. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Using ab initio nonadiabatic (NA) molecular dynamics combined with time-domain density functional simulations, we have demonstrated that reorientation of partial FA cations significantly inhibits nonradiative electron-hole recombination with respect to the pristine FAPbI₃ due to the decreased NA coupling by localizing electron and hole in different positions and the suppressed atomic motions. Slow nuclear motions simultaneously increase the decoherence time, which is overcome by the reduced NA coupling, extending electron-hole recombination time scales to several nanoseconds and being about 3.9 times longer than that in pristine FAPbI₃, which occurs within sub-nanosecond and agrees with experiment. Our study established the mechanism for the experimentally reported prolonged excited-state lifetime, providing a rational strategy for design of high performance of perovskite solar cells and optoelectronic devices.     

Pseudorotational dynamics of H3+ and Li3+

The origin of the pseudoprecession phenomenon is investigated through a computational study of the time evolution of H₃⁺ and Li₃⁺ by electron nuclear dynamics theory. In particular, the pseudorotation of both molecules is shown to induce a spatial rotation, which in turn leads to Coriolis coupling of the two orthogonal nuclear shape deformation modes. This effect is rooted in an anisotropy of the molecular ground state potential energy surface that is caused by the interaction between the D_3h ground state and a twofold degenerate first excited state. Computations are performed for a variety of vibrational energies. In addition, the impact of the anharmonicity of the ground state potential surface on the shape deformation modes and the coupling between them is discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Combination Effect of Cation Vacancies and O2 Adsorption on Ferromagnetism of Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3(100) Surface: ab initio Study

The combination effect of cation vacancies and O₂ adsorption on ferromagnetism of Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃(100) surface is studied by using density functional theory.An ideal Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃(100) surface is non-magnetic and the cation vacancy could induce the magnetism.By comparing the formation energies for Na, Bi and Ti vacancy, the Na vacancy is more stable than the others.Therefore, we focus on the configuration and electric structure for the system of O₂ molecule adsorption on the Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃(100) surface with a Na vacancy.Among the five physisorption configurations we considered, the most likely adsorption position is Na vacancy.The O₂ adsorption enhances the magnetism of the system.The contribution of spin polarization is mainly from the O 2p orbitals.The characteristics of exchange coupling are also calculated, which show that the ferromagnetic coupling is favorable.Compared with the previous calculation results, our calculations could explain the room-temperature ferromagnetism of Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ nanocrytalline powders more reasonably, because of taking into account adsorbed oxygen and cation vacancies.Moreover, our results also show that adsorption of O₂ molecule as well as introduction of cation vacancies may be a promising approach to improve multiferroic materials.     

Total cross sections for electron scattering from molecules: NH3 and H2O

By developing the semi-empirical formula recently obtained for total cross sections of electron scattering from diatomic molecules in the intermediate- and highenergy range, we calculate the total cross sections for electron scattering from molecules (NH₃ and H₂O) over an incident energy range of 10–1000 eV. The total cross sections have also been calculated by using the complex optical potential and the additivity rule. Compared with other available experimental and calculating data, excellent agreements have been achieved. The developed semi-empirical formula reflects that total cross sections for electron scattering from NH₃ and H₂O in the intermediate- and high-energy range quantitatively depend on the bond length.     

Suppression of Charge Recombination by Auxiliary Atoms in Photoinduced Charge Separation Dynamics with Mn Oxides: A Theoretical Study

Charge separation is one of the most crucial processes in photochemical dynamics of energy conversion, widely observed ranging from water splitting in photosystem II (PSII) of plants to photoinduced oxidation reduction processes. Several basic principles, with respect to charge separation, are known, each of which suffers inherent charge recombination channels that suppress the separation efficiency. We found a charge separation mechanism in the photoinduced excited-state proton transfer dynamics from Mn oxides to organic acceptors. This mechanism is referred to as coupled proton and electron wave-packet transfer (CPEWT), which is essentially a synchronous transfer of electron wave-packets and protons through mutually different spatial channels to separated destinations passing through nonadiabatic regions, such as conical intersections, and avoided crossings. CPEWT also applies to collision-induced ground-state water splitting dynamics catalyzed by Mn₄CaO₅ cluster. For the present photoinduced charge separation dynamics by Mn oxides, we identified a dynamical mechanism of charge recombination. It takes place by passing across nonadiabatic regions, which are different from those for charge separations and lead to the excited states of the initial state before photoabsorption. This article is an overview of our work on photoinduced charge separation and associated charge recombination with an additional study. After reviewing the basic mechanisms of charge separation and recombination, we herein studied substituent effects on the suppression of such charge recombination by doping auxiliary atoms. Our illustrative systems are X–Mn(OH)₂ tied to N-methylformamidine, with X=OH, Be(OH)₃, Mg(OH)₃, Ca(OH)₃, Sr(OH)₃ along with Al(OH)₄ and Zn(OH)₃. We found that the competence of suppression of charge recombination depends significantly on the substituents. The present study should serve as a useful guiding principle in designing the relevant photocatalysts.     

An SCF-MS-Xα study of the bonding and nuclear quadrupole coupling in diatomic halogens and interhalogens in the ground X Σ and B Π 0 excited states

SCF-MS-Xα calculations of the electronic structure of diatomic halogens and interhalogens XY (X = I, Br, Cl; Y = I, Br, Cl, F) have been used to investigate the bonding and nuclear quadrupole coupling in these molecules. Calculations have been carried out for the ground X ¹ Σ electronic state, and for the excited B ³ Π₀ state in the case of I₂, Br₂, ICl and IBr. Good agreement (to within 10% in most cases) is obtained between the calculated and observed nuclear quadrupole coupling constants for the molecules in the ground state. For the excited state the agreement is not as good, but the calculation does reproduce the observed decrease in the coupling constants to less than one quarter of their ground state values, and analysis of the contributions to the field gradients clearly shows the reasons for this. The electric dipole moments and electric quadrupole moments of the molecules have also been calculated. However, these prove to be much more strongly dependent on the variables used in the calculation (atomic sphere radii, inclusion of d orbitals). The results of the calculations have also been used to test some of the assumptions made in the Townes and Dailey method of analysis of nuclear quadrupole coupling data.     

A comparison between the absorption properties of the regular and F<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis></Subscript>-defected MgO (100) surface

The electron density, the electrostatic potential and the electric field of the MgO (100) surface, both regular and containing an oxygen vacancy (F _s center), are compared in order to understand the modifications induced in the surface-absorbate interaction by the presence of the defect, with particular attention to the metal-oxide case. The spin-density for a gold atom absorbing on the most characteristic sites of the regular and F _s -defected surface is also shown. It is found that in the defected surface the electron pair in the vacancy protrudes appreciably out of the surface, thus shifting the electrostatic potential to negative values (but producing a similar electric field) and being able to chemically interact with neighboring absorbed species. These results rationalize the rotational invariance and double frustration effects previously described for the metal/F _s -defected MgO (100) surface.     

Theoretical investigation of charge transfer excitation and charge recombination in acenaphthylene–tetracyanoethylene complex

Ab initio calculations were performed to investigate the charge separation and charge recombination processes in the photoinduced electron transfer reaction between tetracyanoethylene and acenaphthylene. The excited states of the charge‐balanced electron donor–acceptor complex and the singlet state of ion pair complex were studied by employing configuration interaction singles method. The equilibrium geometry of electron donor–acceptor complex was obtained by the second‐order Møller–Plesset method, with the interaction energy corrected by the counterpoise method. The theoretical study of ground state and excited states of electron donor–acceptor complex in this work reveals that the S₁ and S₂ states of the electron donor–acceptor complexes are excited charge transfer states, and charge transfer absorptions that corresponds to the S₀ → S₁ and S₀ → S₂ transitions arise from π–π* excitations. The charge recombination in the ion pair complex will produce the charge‐balanced ground state or excited triplet state. According to the generalized Mulliken–Hush model, the electron coupling matrix elements of the charge separation process and the charge recombination process were obtained. Based on the continuum model, charge transfer absorption and charge transfer emission in the polar solvent of 1,2‐dichloroethane were investigated. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 94: 23–35, 2003     

Intramolecular π–π Interactions in Flexibly Linked Partially Fluorinated Bisarenes in the Gas Phase

Three compounds with phenyl and pentafluorophenyl rings bridged by (CH₂)₃ and (CH₂)₂SiMe₂ units were synthesized by hydrosilylation and C−C coupling reactions. Their solid‐state structures are dominated by intermolecular π stacking interactions, primarily leading to dimeric or chain‐type aggregates. Analysis of free molecules in the gas phase by electron diffraction revealed the most abundant conformer to be significantly stabilized by intramolecular π–π interactions. For the silicon compounds, structures characterized by σ–π interactions between methyl and pentafluorophenyl groups are second lowest in energy and cannot be excluded completely by the gas electron diffraction experiments. C₆H₅(CH₂)₃C₆F₅, in contrast, is present as a single conformer. The gas‐phase structures served as a reference for the evaluation of a series of (dispersion‐corrected) quantum‐chemical calculations.     

Canonical statistical adiabatic channel model calculations of the H + CH3 → CH4 recombination reaction on an ab initio potential energy surface. The role of the transitional modes

The canonical formalism of the statistical adiabatic channel model is used to calculate limiting high pressure rate constants for the H + CH₃ → CH₄ recombination reaction on a recently reported analytic potential energy surface based on ab initio calculations. An effective adiabatic channel potential which incorporates the G_?? matrix element of the twofold degenerate H₃C? H transitional bending mode, quartic anharmonicity, and state selected mode coupling effects is implemented. The rate constants calculated over the temperature range 200–1000 K are in very good agreement with recent canonical variational transition state theory calculations performed on the same surface. The comparison with experimental results is also discussed.     

Determining the role of oxygen vacancies in the photoelectrocatalytic performance of WO3 for water oxidation

Oxygen vacancies are common to most metal oxides, whether intentionally incorporated or otherwise, and the study of these defects is of increasing interest for solar water splitting. In this work, we examine nanostructured WO₃ photoanodes of varying oxygen content to determine how the concentration of bulk oxygen-vacancy states affects the photocatalytic performance for water oxidation. Using transient optical spectroscopy, we follow the charge carrier recombination kinetics in these samples, from picoseconds to seconds, and examine how differing oxygen vacancy concentrations impact upon these kinetics. We find that samples with an intermediate concentration of vacancies (∼2% of oxygen atoms) afford the greatest photoinduced charge carrier densities, and the slowest recombination kinetics across all timescales studied. This increased yield of photogenerated charges correlates with improved photocurrent densities under simulated sunlight, with both greater and lesser oxygen vacancy concentrations resulting in enhanced recombination losses and poorer J–V performances. Our conclusion, that an optimal – neither too high nor too low – concentration of oxygen vacancies is required for optimum photoelectrochemical performance, is discussed in terms of the competing beneficial and detrimental impact these defects have on charge separation and transport, as well as the implications held for other highly doped materials for photoelectrochemical water oxidation.

A medium concentration of oxygen vacancies (V_O ≈ 2%) is critical to the performance of WO₃ photoanodes for solar water oxidation, enhancing charge separation and reducing recombination across all timescales examined.     

Dynamic electron transfers in B2H6 and Cu(PH3)2(BH4)

In order to investigate the coupling of molecular vibrations and electron distribution, dynamic electron transfers in B₂H₆ and Cu(PH₃)₂(BH₄) are lated by using a new variational method. In both molecules, the dynamic electron density near bridging hydrogen atoms decreases to form the density valley by exciting specific vibrational modes. On the other hand, in both sides of the valley density hills grow up. For these molecules, similar contour maps are given by the modes with different symmetry which have large contribution of the bridging ligands. While the dynamic electron transfer of B₂H₆ arises in symmetric form, the vibrational modes of the Cu complex gives the asymmetric redistribution of the dynamic electron density. This is attributed to the difference of the symmetry between the two molecules.     

Nonempirical Investigation of Equilibrium Geometry and Electronic Structure of Kynurenine and 3-Hydroxykynurenine Molecule

By Hartree-Fock-Roothaan method with complete geometry optimization in the basis 6-31G* ab initio calculations of equilibrium geometry and electronic structure were performed for kynurenine C₁₀H₁₂N₂O₃ and 3-hydroxykynurenine C₁₀H₁₂N₂O₃ molecules in the singlet ground state and the first triplet excited state. The molecules in the triplet state can react at the oxygen of the carbonyl group adjacent to the aromatic ring by quite different pathway compared to the molecules in the ground singlet state.     

Regulating Spin Polarization through Cationic Vacancy Defects in Bi4Ti3O12 for Enhanced Molecular Oxygen Activation

Molecular oxygen (O₂) activation technology is of great significance in environmental purification due to its eco-friendly operation and cost-effective nature. However, the activation of O₂ is limited by spin-forbidden transitions, and efficient molecular oxygen activation depends on electronic behavior and surface adsorption. Herein, we prepared cationic defect-rich Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ (BTO-MV2) catalysts containing Ti vacancies (V_Ti) for O₂ activation in water purification. The V_Ti on BTO nanosheets can induce electron spin polarization, increasing the number of spin-down photogenerated electrons and reducing the recombination of electron-hole pairs. An active surface V_Ti is also formed, serving as a center for adsorbing O₂ and extracting electrons, effectively generating ⋅OH, O₂⋅⁻ and ¹O₂. The degradation rate constant of tetracycline achieved by BTO-MV2 is 3.3 times faster than BTO, indicating a satisfactory prospect for practical application. This work provides an efficient pathway to activate molecular oxygen by constructing new active sites through cationic vacancy modification technology.     

Air-Stable PdI Dimer Enabled Remote Functionalization: Access to Fluorinated 1,1-Diaryl Alkanes with Unprecedented Speed

While remote functionalization via chain walking has the potential to enable access to molecules via novel disconnections, such processes require relatively long reaction times and can be in need of elevated temperatures. This work features a remote arylation in less than 10 min reaction time at room temperature over a distance of up to 11 carbons. The unprecedented speed is enabled by the air-stable Pd^I dimer [Pd(μ-I)(PCy₂^tBu)]₂, which in contrast to its P^tBu₃ counterpart does not trigger direct coupling at the initiation site, but regioconvergent and chemoselective remote functionalization to yield valuable fluorinated 1,1-diaryl alkanes. Our combined experimental and computational studies rationalize the origins of switchability, which are primarily due to differences in dispersion interactions.     

N2 Electroreduction to NH3 by Selenium Vacancy‐Rich ReSe2 Catalysis at an Abrupt Interface

Vacancy engineering has been proved repeatedly as an adoptable strategy to boost electrocatalysis, while its poor selectivity restricts the usage in nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) as overwhelming competition from hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Revealed by density functional theory calculations, the selenium vacancy in ReSe₂ crystal can enhance its electroactivity for both NRR and HER by shifting the d‐band from ?4.42 to ?4.19 eV. To restrict the HER, we report a novel method by burying selenium vacancy‐rich ReSe₂@carbonized bacterial cellulose (V_r‐ReSe₂@CBC) nanofibers between two CBC layers, leading to boosted Faradaic efficiency of 42.5 % and ammonia yield of 28.3 μg h^?1 cm^?2 at a potential of ?0.25 V on an abrupt interface. As demonstrated by the nitrogen bubble adhesive force, superhydrophilic measurements, and COMSOL Multiphysics simulations, the hydrophobic and porous CBC layers can keep the internal V_r‐ReSe₂@CBC nanofibers away from water coverage, leaving more unoccupied active sites for the N₂ reduction (especially for the potential determining step of proton‐electron coupling and transferring processes as *NN → *NNH).     

Zn对砖块状单斜WO3光催化活性的影响

利用简单的方法合成了Zn掺杂砖块状WO₃材料，并用罗丹明B对其光催化性能进行了评估。利用X射线衍射、拉曼光谱、扫描电镜、紫外可见漫反射光谱、红外光谱和X射线光电子能谱分析等技术对合成材料进行了表征，结果表明适量Zn掺杂可保持WO₃的砖块状形貌。光催化结果表明Zn掺杂量（质量分数）为5%的WO₃光催化性能最好，这是因为该材料内形成了大量的氧空位且羟基含量较高。     

Adsorption of the nitrosamine and thionitrosamine molecules as carcinogen compounds on the BN and B3Al N nanotubes: A DFT study

DFT calculations were performed to investigation of the influence of doping three atoms of aluminum on the electronic properties of the (4,0) zigzag boron nitride nanotube (BNNT). Also, adsorption properties of nitrosamine (NA) and thionitrosamine (TNA) molecules as carcinogen agents onto BN and B_Al3N nanotubes were studied. The results show that the B_3AlN nanotube is the most energetically favorable candidates for adsorption of these molecules. Also, B(B_3Al)NNT/TNA complexes are more stable than B(B_3Al)NNT/NA complexes. The HOMO–LUMO gap, electronic chemical potential (μ), hardness (?), softness (S), the maximum amount of electronic charge (ΔN_max) and electrophilicity index (ω) for monomers and complexes in the gas and polar solvent phases were calculated. The results show that the conductivity and reactivity of BNNT increase by doping Al atoms instead of B atoms. Also, the interaction of NA and TNA molecules with BN and B_Al3N nanotubes results in significant changes in the electronic properties of nanotubes. Based on the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, in all complexes charge transfer occurs from NA and TNA molecules to nanotubes. Theory of atoms in molecules (AIM) was applied to characterize the nature of interactions in nanotubes. It is predicted that, BN and B_3AlN nanotubes can be used to as sensor for detection of NA and TNA molecules.     

Hyperfine interactions in aqueous solution of Cr3+: an ab initio molecular dynamics study

We performed an ab initio molecular dynamics simulation of the paramagnetic transition metal ion Cr³⁺ in aqueous solution. Isotropic hyperfine coupling constants between the electron spin of the chromium ion and nuclear spins of all water molecules have been determined for instantaneous snapshots extracted from the trajectory. The coupling constant of first sphere oxygen, A _iso(¹⁷O_I)=1.9±0.3 MHz, is independent on Cr–O_I distance but increases with the tilt angle for the water molecule approaching 180°. First sphere hydrogen spins have A _iso(¹ H_I)=2.1±0.2 MHz which decreases with increasing tilt angle and shows a Cr–H_I distance dependence. The hyperfine coupling constants for second sphere ¹⁷O is negative and an order of magnitude smaller (−0.20±0.02 MHz) compared to first sphere.