Dynamics of H2 dissociation on the 1/2 ML c(2 × 2)-Ti/Al(100) surface

The dissociation of H(2) on Ti-covered Al surfaces is relevant to the rehydrogenation and dehydrogenation of the NaAlH(4) hydrogen storage material. The energetically most stable structure for a 1/2 monolayer of Ti deposited on the Al(100) surface has the Ti atoms in the second layer with a c(2 × 2) structure, as has been confirmed by both low-energy electron diffraction and low-energy ion scattering experiments and density functional theory studies. In this work, we investigate the dynamics of H(2) dissociation on a slab model of this Ti/Al(100) surface. Two six-dimensional potential energy surfaces (PESs) have been built for this H(2) + Ti/Al(100) system, based on the density functional theory PW91 and RPBE exchange-correlation functionals. In the PW91 (RPBE) PES, the lowest H(2) dissociation barrier is found to be 0.65 (0.84) eV, with the minimum energy path occurring for H(2) dissociating above the bridge to top sites. Using both PESs, H(2) dissociation probabilities are calculated using the classical trajectory (CT), the quasi-classical trajectory (QCT), and the time-dependent wave-packet methods. We find that the QCT H(2) dissociation probabilities are in good agreement with the quantum dynamics results in the collision energy range studied up to 1.0 eV. We have also performed molecular beam simulations and present predictions for molecular beam experiments. Our molecular beam simulations show that H(2) dissociation on the 1/2 ML Ti/Al(100) surface is an activated process, and the reaction probability is found to be 6.9% for the PW91 functional and 1.8% for the RPBE at a nozzle temperature of 1700 K. Finally, we have also calculated H(2) dissociation rate constants by applying transition state theory and the QCT method, which could be relevant to modeling Ti-catalyzed rehydrogenation and dehydrogenation of NaAlH(4).     

Six-dimensional quasiclassical and quantum dynamics of H2 dissociation on the c(2 × 2)-Ti/Al(100) surface

Based on a slab model of H(2) dissociation on a c(2 × 2) structure with Ti atoms in the first and third layers of Al(100), a six-dimensional (6D) potential energy surface (PES) has been built. In this PES, a molecular adsorption well with a depth of 0.45 eV is present in front of a barrier of height 0.13 eV. Using this PES, H(2) dissociation probabilities are calculated by the classical trajectory (CT), the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT), and the time-dependent wave-packet (TDWP) method. The QCT study shows that trajectories can be trapped by the molecular adsorption well. Higher incident energy can lead to direct H(2) dissociation. Vibrational pre-excitation is the most efficient way to promote direct dissociation without trapping. We find that both rotational and vibrational excitation have efficacies close to 1.0 in the entire range of incident energies investigated, which supports the randomization in the initial conditions making the reaction rate solely dependent on the total (internal and translational) energy. The H(2) dissociation probabilities from quantum dynamics are in reasonable agreement with the QCT results in the energy range 50-200 meV, except for some fluctuations. However, the TDWP results considerably exceed the QCT results in the energy range 200-850 meV. The CT reaction probabilities are too low compared with the quantum dynamical results.     

Effect of gamma-irradiation on surface and catalytic properties of CuO−ZnO/Al2O3 system

A copper, zinc and aluminium mixed oxides sample having the nominal composition 0.25 CuO/0.03 ZnO/Al₂O₃ was prepared by impregnating Al(OH)₃ with copper and zinc nitrate solutions, drying at 100 °C then heating in air at 600 °C. The obtained solid was exposed to different doses of -rays (20–160 Mrad). The surface characteristics namelyS _BETV_P andr of different treated adsorbents were determined from N₂ adsorption isothems measured at –196 °C. The catalytic activity of various irradiated solids was determined by following up the kinetics of CO-oxidation by O₂ at 150–200 °C. The results showed that the doses up to 80 Mrad resulted in no significant change in theS _BET but increased slightly theV _P (20%) of the treated adsorbents. The irradiation at 160 Mrad caused an increase of 20% in theS _BET of the irradiated solid sample. The catalytic activity increased progressively by increasing the dose, a dose of 160 Mrad brought about an increase of 140% in the catalyst's activity. The apparent activation energy of the catalytic reaction decreased monotonically by increasing the absorbed dose of -rays which was attributed to a parallel induced decrease in the value of pre-exponential term of the Arrhenius equation. The observed increase in the catalytic activity due to -irradiation has been interpreted as a result of increasing the concentration of catalytically-active sites contributing in chemisorption and catalysis of CO-oxidation via a possible fragmentation of CuO crystallites.     

Reactivity of O2 − radical anions on hydrated ZrO2 surface

The concentration of O₂ ^? radical anions generated on the surface of hydrated ZrO₂ in an H₂O₂ solution was found to depend on H₂O₂ concentration. It was shown that this method can be used for detecting H₂O₂ in solutions at concentration as low as 0.01 wt%. The radical anions were found to react with organic molecules, even at room temperature. The decomposition kinetics of O₂ ^? radical anions was double-exponential with two reaction rate constants. The existence of two distinct rate constants suggests that two types of O₂ ^? radical anions with similar spectroscopic properties but different reactivity are present on the surface of hydrated ZrO₂. It is highly likely that different arrangements of hydroxyl groups near the radical anions account for the presence of the two types of O₂ ^? with different reactivity. The rate constants obtained in the presence of the organic compounds studied were found to conform with the expected order of reactivity: toluene > benzene ? hexane.     

A calorimetric adsorption study on the interaction of water with hydroxylated surface of γ-Al2O3

The curve for the differential heat of adsorption of water on γ aluminum oxide has parts related to the interaction of the adsorbed water molecules with surface molecules of coordinated water and with acid and basic hydroxyl groups. Estimates have been made of the effective charges and hydration numbers for three of these adsorption centers. Textural changes have been observed in the γ-Al₂O₃ particles related to interplate swelling in the secondary sorbent packets into which the primary particles are linked. A. V. Dumanskii Institute for Colloid and Water Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 42 Prospekt Akademika Vernadskogo, Kiev-142 03680, Ukraine. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 121–125, March–April, 2000.     

FT-IR study of the δ(OH) mode of surface hydroxy groups on metal oxides

Bands due to the in-plane bending mode of hydrogen-bonded surface hydroxy groups are observed on alumina, zirconia, magnesia and thoria samples. Their assignment is based on the effect of dehydration by heating under evacuation, and isotopic exchange using D₂O and H₂O¹⁸. The observed frequencies are apparently related to the position of the cut-off limit of the samples, suggesting a coupling of the δOH mode with the ν(MOH) mode.     

Theoretical study on the reaction mechanism of NH2(-) with O2 (a1Δg)

A detailed theoretical study of the potential energy surface of poorly understood ion-molecule reaction of NH(2)(-) and O(2) (a(1)Δ(g)) is explored at the density functional theory B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p), ab initio of QCISD/6-311++G(d,p) and CCSD(T)/6-311++G(3df, 2pd) (single-point) theoretical levels for the first time. It is shown that there are six total possible products from P(1) to P(6) on the singlet potential energy surface. Among these, the charge-transfer product P(1) (NH(2) + O(2)(-)) is the most favorable product with predominant abundances, whereas P(4) (NO(-) + H(2)O) and P(2) (HNO + OH(-)) may be the second and third feasible products followed by the almost neglectable P(3) (NO(2)(-) + H(2)), while P(5) (c-NO(2)(-) + H(2)) and P(6) (ONO(-) + H(2)) will not be observed due to their either high barriers or being secondary products. The present theoretical study points out that besides P(1) (NH(2) + O(2)(-)) and P(2) (HNO + OH(-)), P(4) (NO(-) + H(2)O) should be also observed, which is different from the previous experiment study by Anthony Midey et al. in 2008. In addition, almost all of the reaction pathways to products are exothermic and the reaction rate should be very fast since the reaction barriers are very low except for P(5) (c-NO(2)(-) + H(2)) which is in agreement with the measured total reaction rate constant k = 9.0 × 10(-10) cm(3)s(-1) at 300 K in the experiment study. It is expected that the present theoretical study may be helpful for the understanding of the reaction mechanism related to NHX(-), NX(2)(-), PHX(-), and PX(2)(-) (X = H, F, and Cl).     

Disulfide passivation of the Ge(100)-2 × 1 surface

Understanding the bonding of sulfur at the germanium surface is important to developing good passivation routes for germanium-based electronic devices. The adsorption behavior of ethyl disulfide (EDS) and 1,8-naphthalene disulfide (NDS) at the Ge(100)-2 × 1 surface has been studied under ultrahigh vacuum conditions to investigate both their fundamental reactivity and their effectiveness as passivants of this surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, multiple internal reflection-infrared spectroscopy, and density functional theory results indicate that both molecules adsorb via S-S dissociation at room temperature. Upon exposure to ambient air, the thiolate adlayer remains intact for both EDS- and NDS-functionalized surfaces, indicating the stability of this surface attachment. Although both systems resist oxidation compared to the bare Ge(100)-2 × 1 surface, the Ge substrate is significantly oxidized in all cases (17-57% relative to the control), with the NDS-passivated surface undergoing up to two times more oxidation than the EDS-passivated surface at the longest air exposure times studied. The difference in passivation capability is attributed to the difference in surface coverage on Ge(100)-2 × 1, where EDS adsorption leads to a saturation coverage 17% higher than that for NDS/Ge(100)-2 × 1.     

Dynamics of scattering and dissociative adsorption on a surface alloy: H2/W(100)-c(2 × 2)Cu

H(2) scattering and dissociative adsorption on the W(100)-c(2 × 2)Cu surface alloy is studied based on DFT calculations. A strongly site dependent reactivity is observed in line with results obtained for the density of states projected onto the W and Cu atoms of the topmost layer. H(2) dissociation on a defect free terrace of W(100)-c(2 × 2)Cu is found to be a non-activated process like on W(100), despite the reduction of the number of energetically accessible dissociation pathways at low impact energies due to the presence of Cu atoms. A prominence of dynamic trapping and a reduction of the efficacy of trapping to promote dissociation is also verified, leading to a decrease of the initial sticking probability as a function of the molecular impact energy, in qualitative agreement with experimental findings. The heterogeneous reactivity is also evidenced by two different kinds of reflection events at low energies. Its combination gives rise to a broad specular peak superimposed on a cosine-like angular distribution of scattered molecules which is in good agreement with available experimental data.     

A HREELS study of the adsorption of formic acid on slightly oxidized Nb(110) surface

An investigation has been made on the adsorption and decomposition of formic acid on slightly oxidized Nb(110) surface (0/Nb atom ratio = 0.2) using high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS),and a corresponding surface reaction mode is given.At 140 K,formic acid of low exposure on such an Nb(110) surface decomposed to formate,which bonded on Nb in monodentate configuration,simultaneously some formate decomposed to CO,which adsorbed on the surface.Formic acid multilayers formed when the exposure was high.While the temperature was increased to above 190 K,multilayer formic acid desorbed,and the surface was covered with mon-odentate-bonded formate and CO.In the temperature range of 250-300 K,chemisorbed formate changed from monodentate configuration into bridging configuration and CO molecules disappeared.The decomposition of formate at higher temperatures led to the oxidation of Nb.The formate formed in the high exposure case was so stable that it did not decompose even the temperature wa     

Role of surface spins on magnetization of Cr2O3 coated γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles

Effect of surface spins in chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃) coated maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles (13 nm) as prepared by microwave plasma technique have been studied in detail. The temperature dependent zero field cooled/field cooled (ZFC/FC) measurements revealed the blocking temperature at T_B = 75 K. Simulated ZFC/FC curves exhibited large value of effective anisotropy of Cr₂O₃ coated γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles as compared to bulk γ-Fe₂O₃ but less than bare γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. Bloch's law was fitted on M_S-T data and revealed the values of Bloch's constant B = 3.523 × 10⁻⁴ K^−b and Bloch's exponent b = 1.10. The higher value of B than in bulk is due to weaker exchange coupling J (B ̴ 1/J) on the surface of nanoparticle due to disorder surface spins, while lower value of b is due to no spin wave excitation in presence of large energy band gap at nanoscale. Kneller's law fit on H_C-T data deviated in all temperature range which is due to strong surface anisotropy, core-shell interactions and superparamagnetism. Interparticle interactions and spin glass behavior were investigated by using different physical laws for f-dependent ac susceptibility and they confirmed the presence of spin glass behavior which is due to disordered frozen surface spins and random interparticle interactions.     

Growth pattern of Ag(n) (n = 1-8) clusters on the α-Al2O3(0001) surface: a first principles study

We report an extensive first-principles study of the structure and electronic properties of Ag(n) (n = 1-8) clusters isolated in gas phase and deposited on the α-Al(2)O(3) surface. We have used the plane wave based pseudopotential method within the framework of density functional theory. The electron ion interaction has been described using projector augmented wave (PAW), and the spin-polarized GGA scheme was used for the exchange correlation energy. The results reveal that, albeit interacting with support alumina, the Ag atoms prefers to remain bonded together suggesting an island growth motif is preferred over wetting the surface. When compared the equilibrium structures of Ag clusters between free and on alumina substrate, a significant difference was observed starting from n = 7 onward. While Ag(7) forms a three-dimensional (3D) pentagonal bipyramid in the isolated gas phase, on alumina support it forms a planar hexagonal structure parallel to the surface plane. Moreover, the spin moment of the Ag(7) cluster was found to be fully quenched. This has been attributed to higher delocalization of electron density as the size of the cluster increases. Furthermore, a comparison of chemical bonding analysis through electronic density of state (EDOS) shows that the EDOS of the deposited Ag(n) cluster is significantly broader, which has been ascribed to the enhanced spd hybridization. On the basis of the energetics, it is found that the adsorption energy of Ag clusters on the α-Al(2)O(3) surface decreases with cluster size.     

A DFT study on the interaction of Co with an anatase TiO2 (001)-(1×4) surface

The substitution/adsorption structures of Co on an anatase TiO2 (001)-(1×4) surface are investigated using the DFT/local density approximation (LDA) method.Theoretical calculation shows that the Co ion prefers to be adsorbed on the surface of anatase TiO2.The density of states (DOS) analysis finds that the Co 3d is located mainly in the energy gap region.The Co 3d partial density of states (PDOS) indicates that there is a substantial degree of hybridization between O 2s and Co 3d in valence band (VB) regions in the substitution models.The conclusion is that the mode of substitution is more active when the catalyst is a higher-energy surface.     

Conductivity of Al2(WO4)3–WO3 and Al2(WO4)3–Al2O3 Composites

Russian Journal of Electrochemistry - Composites of (1 – x)Al2(WO4)3–xWO3 and (1 – x)Al2(WO4)3–xAl2O3 are synthesized and their conductivity is studied as dependent on the...     

Multitracer study on adsorption of metal ions on α-Fe2O3

pH dependence of the adsorption of Na, Sc, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, and Pd on -Fe₂O₃ from a 0.1 mol dm^–3 NaCl solution was studied by using a multitracer technique. Desorption of the metal ions from the -Fe₂O₃ with the adsorbed metal ions at pH 11 was also studied by lowering the pH of the suspensions. The desorption curve of each element was in good agreement with the adsorption curve except for Ru and Rh under conditions studied. Adsorption kinetics showed that the adsorption of most metal ions increases with shaking time before an adsorption equilibrium is attained. An increase in the adsorption was also observed with an elevation in temperature for the elements, suggesting that the adsorption is involved in chemisorption.     

Structure of clean and hydrated α-Al2O3 (1102) surfaces: implication on surface charge

Periodic DFT calculations coupled to a first-principle thermodynamic approach have allowed us to establish a surface phase diagram for the different terminations of the α-Al(2)O(3) (1102) surface in various temperature and water pressure conditions. Theoretical results are compared with previous experimental data from the literature. Under a wide range of temperature and water pressure (including ambient conditions) the most stable surface (denoted C2_1H(2)O in this work) is terminated with singly coordinated hydroxyls on four-fold coordinated aluminium (Al(4C)-μ(1)-OH) while most existing surface models are only considering six-fold coordinated surface Al atoms as in the bulk structure of alumina. The presence of more acidic Al(4C)-μ(1)-OH sites helps explain the low Point of Zero Charge (PZC) (between 5 and 6) determined from the onset of Mo oxoanions adsorption on (1102) single crystal wafers. It is also postulated that another termination (corresponding to the hydration of the non-polar, stoichiometric surface, stable in dehydrated conditions) may be observed in aqueous solution depending on the surface preparation conditions.     

Phonon-induced surface charge density oscillations in quantum wells: a first-principles study of the (2 × 2)-K overlayer on Be(0001)

Density functional perturbation theory has been applied to study the surface vibrations of (2 × 2)-K monolayer on the Be(0001) surface. We present the full phonon dispersion curves along the high symmetry directions of the surface Brillouin zone (SBZ) together with the layer-projected phonon density of states and the phonon-induced surface charge density oscillations at Γ and M for the alkali SV and L modes. Surprisingly, at the M point, the L-phonon displacements produce a more pronounced perturbation on the surface charge density than the SV-phonon displacements. These results apparently solve the long-standing question regarding helium atom scattering (HAS) experiments performed on the similar system (2 × 2)-K on graphite, where the alkali SV phonon mode is not observed. Moreover, this result confirms the previous finding that HAS from free-electron metal surfaces probes directly the phonon-induced charge density oscillations and the related electron-phonon interaction.     

Neutron diffraction study of Na2UO2(C2O4)2 · 5D2O

A sample of Na₂UO₂(C₂O₄)₂ · 5D₂O (I) was studied by powder neutron diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P1, unit cell parameters: a = 6.934(1) ?, b = 7.566(1) ?, c = 15.409(2) ?, ?? = 94.720(6)°, ?? = 96.281(6)°, ?? = 111.765(5)°, Z = 2, R _F = 5.35, R _I = 6.73 and ??² = 2.89. The hydrogen bonds and non-valence contacts involved in the formation and binding of the {Na₂[UO₂(C₂O₄)₂(D₂O)](D₂O)₄} layers in I were analyzed using the Voronoi-Dirichlet polyhedra.