Structures,energetics and vibrational spectra of (H2O)32 clusters: a journey from model potentials to correlated theory

Empirical model potentials are found to be very useful for generating most competitive minima of large water clusters, whereas correlated (e.g. second order-Møller–Plesset perturbation (MP2) theory or higher) calculations are necessary for predicting their accurate energetics and vibrational features. The present study reports the structures and energetics of (H₂O)₃₂ clusters at MP2 level using aug-cc-pvDZ basis set, starting with low-lying structures generated from model potentials. Such high-end and accurate calculations are made feasible by the cost-effective fragment-based molecular tailoring approach (MTA) in conjunction with the grafting procedure. The latter is found to yield electronic energies with a sub-millihartree accuracy with reference to their full calculation counterparts. The vibrational spectra of nine low-lying (H₂O)₃₂ isomers are obtained from the corresponding MTA-based Hessian matrix. All these low-lying isomers show almost similar spectral features, which are in fair agreement with the experiment. The experimental spectrum of (H₂O)₃₂ is thus better understood from the vibrational features of this set of very closely spaced isomers. The present case study of (H₂O)₃₂ clearly demonstrates the efficacy in obtaining accurate structures, energetics and spectra at correlated level of theory by combining model potential-based structures with fragmentation methods.     

Water molecules migration at oil–paper interface under the coupling fields of electric and temperature: a molecular dynamics study

Moisture is an important factor affecting the insulation properties of transformers. Due to the limitations of macroscopic experimental methods, the diffusion of water at oil–paper interface cannot be accurately measured. Therefore, molecular dynamics method was used in this work to establish oil–paper layer model of 10⁵ atoms. Through jointly analysing the aggregation degree, diffusion coefficient, free volume as well as radial distribution function of water molecules, the diffusion mechanism of water molecules at oil–paper interface was studied. The results show that when the initial water content in paper was high, water molecules would accumulate at oil–paper interface to form the local high-water region during heating. The polarisation of the electric field strengthened the hydrogen bonding interaction between water molecules and increased the probability of occurrence of the high-water region. Meanwhile, electric field reduced the free volume and diffusion coefficient of water molecules and rendered its diffusion coefficient anisotropic. What’s more, when the electric field was combined with the temperature field, the electric field played a leading role in the diffusion of water molecules while the temperature field was less affected. Diffusion coefficients of water molecules at different temperatures from molecular dynamics simulations were well consistent with experimental results, which verified the rationality of the model.     

Computational studies of the interactions between emeraldine and palladium atom

The structural end electronic properties of emeraldine base (EB) dimers interacting with a single Pd atom is investigated within Hartree-Fock with 6-31g(d, p) basis set for non-metal atoms, and 3-21g for Pd. It was found that Pd⁰ might create a stable complex with EB fragments. The influence of the Pd presence on the electronic structure of EB dimers is examined through an analysis of the total density of states and the crystal orbital overlap population (COOP).     

Biphenylene: stabilization or destabilization?

A modified Hess–Schaad group additivity scheme has been developed and used to evaluate the resonance energy of biphenylene. It is shown that biphenylene possesses strong aromatic character. The strain energy, if any, should be much lower than previously estimated. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The virtual chemistry lab for reactions at surfaces: Is it possible? Will it be useful?

Ab initio total-energy calculations based on electronic structure theory have tremendously enlarged our knowledge about the geometrical and electronic structure of clean and adsorbate-covered low-index surfaces and reactions on these surfaces. In technological applications, however, extended flat surfaces are very rarely used. Hence the applicability of the theoretical results for the technological surfaces are indeed questionable. In this review I will reflect on the question whether ab initio calculations of reactions at surfaces can contribute to the development of, e.g., better catalysts. Simulations alone will not be able to lead to new products but it will be demonstrated that they can contribute enormously to the development process. Thus the virtual chemistry lab is indeed possible and helpful.     

A theoretical analysis of adsorption and dissociation of CH3OH on the stoichiometric SnO2(110) surface

A theoretical analysis based on the Hartree–Fock pseudopotential method and a density-functional theory calculation using a hybrid combination of general gradient approximation with pseudopotential procedure has been carried out to study the adsorption and dissociation of methanol on the stoichiometric SnO₂(110) surface. The dependence of the results upon model system and computing method is discussed. An optimization procedure of adsorbate and substrate atom positions on a six-layer slab model has been selected to characterize the corresponding geometric parameters, adsorption energy and charge-transfer processes related with the molecularly adsorbed CH₃OH and dissociative channels to yield methoxy or methyl fragments. In the high-coverage limit (θ=1), we find that dissociation of the methanol molecule via the heterolytic cleavage of the C---O bond is favoured. At lower coverage (θ=1/2), this channel and the molecularly adsorbed methanol present similar adsorption energies.