Titanium-decorated carbon nanotubes as a potential high-capacity hydrogen storage medium

We report a first-principles study, which demonstrates that a single Ti atom coated on a single-walled nanotube (SWNT) binds up to four hydrogen molecules. The first H2 adsorption is dissociative with no energy barrier while the other three adsorptions are molecular with significantly elongated H-H bonds. At high Ti coverage we show that a SWNT can strongly adsorb up to 8 wt % hydrogen. These results advance our fundamental understanding of dissociative adsorption of hydrogen in nanostructures and suggest new routes to better storage and catalyst materials.     

氢化二维过渡金属硫化物的稳定性和电子特性:第一性原理研究

用氢对单层二维过渡金属硫化物(TMDs)进行功能化是调节单层TMDs电子性质的既有效又经济的方法.采用密度泛函理论,对单层TMDs (MX_2 (M=Mo, W; X=S, Se, Te))的稳定性和电子性质进行理论研究,发现在单层MX_2 的层间有一个比其表面更稳定的氢吸附位点.当同阳离子时,随着阴离子原子序数的增加, H原子与MX_2 层的结合越强,氢化单层MX_2 结构越稳定;相反,同阴离子时,随着阳离子原子序数的增加, H原子与MX_2 层的结合越弱.氢原子从MoS_2的表面经层间穿越到另一表面的扩散势垒约为0.9 eV.氢化对单层MX_2 的电子特性也会产生极大的影响,主要表现在氢化实现了MX_2 体系从无磁性到磁性体系的过渡.表面氢化会使MX_2 层的带隙急剧减小,而层间氢化使MX_2 的电子结构从半导体转变为金属能带.     

When Langmuir is too simple: H2 dissociation on Pd(111) at high coverage

Recent experiments of H2 adsorption on Pd(111) [Nature (London) 422, 705 (2003)]] have questioned the classical Langmuir picture of second order adsorption kinetics at high surface coverage requiring pairs of empty sites for the dissociative chemisorption. Experiments find that at least three empty sites are needed. Through density functional theory, we find that H2 dissociation is favored on ensembles of sites that involve a Pd atom with no direct interaction with adsorbed hydrogen. Such active sites are formed by aggregation of at least 3 H-free sites revealing the complex structure of the "active sites."     

Adsorption of hydrogen on normal and pentaheptite single wall carbon nanotubes

Density functional calculations of the physisorption of molecular hydrogen and the dissociative atomic chemisorption on the external surface of hexagonal and pentaheptite carbon nanotubes, have been carried out. Physisorption binding energies are near 100 meV/molecule and are similar on metallic and semiconducting nanotubes. Full coverage of the nanotube with one molecule per graphitic hexagon decreases the binding energy per molecule. Chemisorption binding energies per H atom are larger on pentaheptites than on hexagonal carbon nanotubes. The molecular physisorption and dissociative chemisorption states on pentaheptites have very similar total energies (some chemisorbed states are even slightly more stable than the physisorbed states), while on hexagonal carbon nanotubes molecular physisorption is more stable than dissociative chemisorption. However, a substantial energy barrier has to be overcome to go from physisorption to dissociative chemisorption in both types of nanotubes.     

LCAO studies of hydrogen chemisorption on nickel: II. Cluster models for adsorption sites

The adsorption of single hydrogen atoms, investigated by means of cluster calculations, has been compared with the adsorption of hydrogen monolayers on periodic crystals (paper I). From the similarity of the adsorption energy curves we conclude that the (direct and indirect) interactions between adsorbed hydrogen atoms are relatively small up to monolayer coverage. For adsorption on different sites of ideal low index surfaces the stability decreases in the order Atop > Bridge > Centred. For Atop adsorption it increases with a decreasing number of nearest neighbours to the nickel atom in the NiH “surface molecule”, thus leading to especially strong adsorption sites at the edges of a stepped surface and to low stability in the notches. In general, we find that the Ni_nH “surface molecule” with n = 1, 2, 3 or 4 determines the equilibrium positions for H adsorption; the inclusion of one shell of neighbours to the nickel atoms is sufficient to explain the differences in adsorption energy. The Extended Hückel method is not well suited to study dissociative chemisorption of H₂, although some qualitative trends are correct.     

Sum frequency generation and density functional studies of CO-H interaction and hydrogen bulk dissolution on Pd(1 1 1)

CO-H interaction and H bulk dissolution on Pd(1 1 1) were studied by sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT). The theoretical findings are particularly important to rationalize the experimentally observed mutual site blocking of CO and H and the effect of H dissolution on coadsorbate structures. Dissociative hydrogen adsorption on CO-precovered Pd(1 1 1) is impeded due to an activation barrier of ∼2.5 eV for a CO coverage of 0.75 ML, an effect which is maintained down to 0.33 ML CO. Preadsorbed hydrogen prevented CO adsorption at 100 K, while hydrogen was replaced from the surface by CO above 125 K. The temperature-dependent site blocking of hydrogen originates from the onset of hydrogen diffusion into the Pd bulk around 125 K, as shown by SFG and theoretical calculations using various approaches. When Pd(1 1 1) was exposed to 1:1 CO/H₂ mixtures at 100 K, on-top CO was absent in the SFG spectra although hydrogen occupies only threefold hollow sites on Pd(1 1 1). DFT attributes the absence of on-top CO to H atoms diffusing between hollow sites via bridge sites, thereby destabilizing neighboring on-top CO molecules. According to the calculations, the stretching frequency of bridge-bonded CO with a neighboring bridge-bonded hydrogen atom is redshifted by 16 cm⁻¹ when compared to bridging CO on the clean surface. Implications of the observed effects on hydrogenation reactions are discussed and compared to the C₂H₄-H coadsorption system.     

Hydrogen migration on the C60 fullerene

We investigate the migration barriers, transition states, and optimum migration paths of hydrogen on the C₆₀ fullerene using the ab initio density functional theory. Calculated energy barriers tend to be higher for non-local exchange-correlation functionals. We find that the migration between adsorption sites with the same energy has high migration barriers, and thus the initial stages of the H nucleation requires desorption–adsorption cycles. The migration barrier is reduced near another H adsorbate. The migration may be involved more in the later stages of the regio-selective hydrogenation of C₆₀. We find that the migration barriers are reduced by the presence of hydrogen sources, and the hydrogenating agents in the environment are required in order to reach the regio-selective hydrogenation of the C₆₀ fullerene.     

Tight-binding study of ammonia and hydrogen adsorption on magnetic cobalt systems

The semi-empirical self-consistent tight-binding model of ammonia and hydrogen adsorption at Co(0001) and small Co clusters is used to study the chemisorption role in surface magnetism. The adsorbate choice has been suggested by recent experiments. At the Co(0001) surface the atomic magnetization is predicted to diminish locally by 0.26 μ_B due to an isolated hydrogen atom adsorption; for Co₁₃ clusters the change is somewhat smaller but less localized. At H(1×1)–Co(0001) the magnetization of surface Co atoms drops to 0.88 μ_B. The hydrogen magnetic moment is very small and couples antiferromagnetically to Co. Ammonia adsorption is found to reduce the Co atom magnetization locally by 0.1 μ_B or less. We discuss the possibility of adsorbate–metal antiferromagnetic coupling in more detail.     

Hydrogen-induced structural changes on NiAl(110)

LEED I-V analysis and surface X-ray scattering measurements have been used to determine the structural changes induced by the adsorption of atomic hydrogen on NiAl(110) at 130 K. The clean surface, ordered with 50at% Ni50at%Al, relaxes away from bulk truncation to exhibit a large ripple. At 130 K the rippling (Al out, Ni in) is 0.19 Å, as determined by LEED I-V. The adsorption of atomic hydrogen reduces this rippling by 16% at half of saturation coverage and at full saturation by 44%. Saturation coverage was measured to be one hydrogen atom per (1 × 1) surface unit cell (1 monolayer) using nuclear reaction analysis. This observation contradicts first principles calculations that predict 1 monolayer of H removes the surface rippling.     

Hallmark of perfect graphene

Using first-principles calculations we show that the adsorption of atomic hydrogen on graphene opens a substantial gap in the electronic density of states in which lies a spin-polarized gap state. This spin is quenched by the presence of a rotated C-C bond (a Stone-Wales defect) adjacent to or distant from the H atom. We explain these findings and discuss the implications for nanotubes and magnetic nanographene. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the combined effect of high curvature and a Stone-Wales defect makes H2 chemisorption close to being thermodynamically favorable.     

Chemisorption of CO and H on Pd, Pt and Au nanoclusters: a DFT approach

We have performed a theoretical study of pure metal nanoparticles (Pd/Pt/Au) and their interaction with CO molecules and atomic hydrogen, in order to investigate chemisorption effects of relevance to catalysis by nanoparticles. First-principles density-functional local relaxations are used to investigate the effect of CO and H adsorption on six structural motifs. The results of the energetic crossover and structural deformations are analyzed in terms of the interplay between metal-metal interactions (including internal and surface stress) and CO-metal and H-metal interactions. It is found that H adsorption releases surface stress, thus favoring 5-fold symmetry motifs, whereas CO adsorption produces a flattening of the potential energy surface of the metal clusters.     

Hydrogen chemisorption on <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">sp</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">2</Emphasis></Superscript>-bonded carbon: Influence of the local curvature and local electronic effects

We report on the interaction of hydrogen with sp²-bonded carbon which has been investigated on graphite (0001), single-walled carbon nanotubes and C₆₀ multilayer films. These substrates have been chosen to represent a large range of curvature in the carbon network. The photoelectron spectroscopy study of the samples treated with atomic hydrogen and low-energy hydrogen ions reveals that hydrogen is chemisorbed on the basal plane of the sp²-bonded carbon networks, as evidenced by the lowered emission from -derived states and a lowering of the electron work function of up to 1.3 eV. The hydrogen adsorption energy barrier is found to strongly depend on the local curvature of the carbon network whereby the barrier is lowered with increasing curvatures. Whereas in the case of C₆₀ and single-walled carbon nanotubes, hydrogen chemisorption can be achieved by exposure to atomic hydrogen, the chemisorption on graphite (0001) requires hydrogen ions of low kinetic energy (1 eV). Furthermore, the adsorption energy barrier is found to increase with hydrogen coverage.The scanning tunnelling microscopy study of individual adsorption sites on the graphite (0001) surface reveals long-ranged (5 nm) electronic effects observed as a (sqrt(3)×sqrt(3))R30° superstructure in the local density of states. It is shown that this superstructure is due to the scattering of delocalized electron wavefunctions at the point defects. The resulting standing waves induce a redistribution of the local density of states which is directly related to the point-like Fermi surface of graphite. PACS 68.43.-h; 71.20.Tx; 68.37.Ef     

Optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional GaN adsorbed with H,N and O: A first-principle study

In this paper, we have investigated optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional GaN adsorbed with non-metal atoms: H, N and O based on first-principle. We find that adsorption of H, N and O atom on 2D GaN is achieved by chemisorption, and the most stable adsorption site is at the top of N atom. Band structure of 2D GaN after adsorbing H atom moves to low energy region and two-dimensional GaN is transformed into an n-type semiconductor. After adsorption of N atom, a new impurity energy appears at the Fermi level, and N adatom could induce magnetism into 2D GaN. Static dielectric constants of 2D GaN increase and adsorption spectrums have extend to infrared band when adsorbing H and N. Strong reflection peaks and strong adsorption peaks after adsorption are located at deep ultraviolet range, which is beneficial for optoelectronic application in the deep ultraviolet. Specifically, two-dimensional GaN adsorbed with H atom is more conducive to manufacture of nano-optoelectronic devices.     

Regular chemisorption of hydrogen on achiral single-walled carbon nanotubes

Regular chemisorption of hydrogen on achiral single-walled carbon nanotubes has been investigated with the use of AM1 quantum-chemical semiempirical method. It has been found that regular hydrogen chemisorption deforms nanotubes, in some cases leading to stable prismatic modifications. The dependence of the adsorption energy on the density of hydrogen coverage has been found. A procedure for determining the adsorption energy by the spectra of thermally stimulated desorption has been proposed.     

ZrMn2（110）表面结构及吸氢机理的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的平面波赝势(PW-PP)方法,研究了ZrMn2（110）清洁表面结构和氢原子在表面的吸附。弛豫表面结构的计算结果表明表面结构的最表层为曲面,且表面结构的原子间隙变小。由1Zr2Mn原子组成的空位是氢原子吸附在ZrMn2（110）表面的最佳吸附位,吸附能为3.352 eV,氢原子吸附后离表面的距离为1.140 Å。Mulliken电荷布居分析表明吸附的氢原子与表面原子的相互作用主要是接近氢原子的第一层原子与氢原子的相互作用。过渡态计算表明被吸附的氢原子进入表面内部需克服的最大势垒为1.033 eV。     

Trends in hydrogen chemisorption on transition metals

A systematic study of H adsorption on the close-packed surfaces of the transition metals in the 3d and 4d series is presented. The effect of the TM d band on the chemisorption bond is investigated, by embedding a cluster of TM muffin tins at the surface of an effective jellium-like medium. It is found that the broad and incomplete H/jellium resonance is narrowed, shifted down and made to contain more electrons as a result of hybridization with the TM d states. These effects are larger in the case of the 4d metals, thus indicating a greater participation in the chemisorption bond of the d electrons for these metals than for the 3d metals. Calculation of one-electron energy differences on going from the H on jellium system to that of H on the TM cluster are presented. Trends for the one-electron energy differences are compared to trends in experimental chemisorption energy. H adsorption in the three-fold hollow site with no secondlayer TM atom below the H site is favoured for the hcp metals, while no discernible preference between the two hollow sites is recorded for the fcc metals, with the exception of Rh where the site with no second-layer TM atom below is preferred.     

Hydrogen, sulphur and chlorine coadsorption on Pd(111): a theoretical study of poisoning and promotion

First principles calculations for the coadsorption of hydrogen with sulphur and chlorine on Pd(111) are presented. Individually, both sulphur and chlorine poison hydrogen adsorption, sulphur being the more efficient poison. The observed sulphur poisoning is a structural effect. The adsorption energy decreases and the diffusion barrier increases for hydrogen atoms in the vicinity of sulphur adatoms. A sulphur coverage of 0.33 ML is sufficient to completely poison hydrogen adsorption on Pd(111). The presence of chlorine adatoms on the sulphur-poisoned surface is found to stabilise localised hydrogen adsorption. The possible promotional effects of chlorine on sulphur-poisoned catalysts are discussed.     

过渡族金属掺杂Al(111)表面对氢分子催化分解的影响

为了探求过渡金属催化剂对催化合成储氢材料NaAlH₄效果的影响, 本文采用第一性原理方法研究了多种金属原子取代Al (111)表面铝原子形成的合金表面对氢的催化分解的影响. 计算结果表明, Sc, V, Fe, Ti原子掺杂的表面对氢分子分解具有催化作用. H₂在对应的掺杂表面催化分解所需要的活化能分别为0.54 eV, 0.29 eV, 0.51 eV, 0.12 eV. H原子在Sc, V, Ti掺杂表面扩散需要的活化能分别为0.51 eV, 0.66 eV, 0.57 eV. 同时, 过渡金属掺杂在Al表面时倾向于分散分布, 增加掺杂表面的掺杂原子个数, 掺杂表面的催化效果体现为单个掺杂过渡金属原子的催化效果. 本研究将为金属掺杂Al (111)表面催化加氢合成NaAlH₄提供理论参考.     

Methanol adsorption on silicon (0 0 1)

Using a first-principles pseudopotential technique, we have investigated the adsorption of CH₃OH on the Si(0 0 1) surface. We have found that, in agreement with the overall experimental picture, the most probable chemisorption path for methanol adsorption on silicon (0 0 1) is as follows: the gas phase CH₃OH adsorbs molecularly to the electrophilic surface Si atom via the oxygen atom and then dissociates into Si-OCH₃ and H, bonded to the electrophilic and nucleophilic surface silicon dimer atoms, respectively. Other possible adsorption models and dissociation paths are also discussed. Our calculations also suggest that the most probable methanol coverage is 0.5 ML, i.e., one molecule per Si-Si dimer, in agreement with experimental evidences. The surface atomic and electronic structures are discussed and compared to available theoretical and experimental data. In addition, we propose that a comparison of our theoretical STM images and calculated vibrational modes for the adsorbed systems with detailed experimental investigations could possibly confirm the presented adsorption picture.     

Reactions and structures of water on clean and oxygen covered Pt(111) and Fe(100)

An atom superposition and election delocalization (ASED) technique applied to water adsorption on a small cluster model of Pt(111) shows weak and reversible chemisorption and facile and reversible hydrogen transfer to preadsorbed oxygen atoms as observed by Fisher, Sexton and Gland in EELS and UPS studies. Our theory predicts much stronger adsorption of water to Fe(100) with low barriers to dehydrogenation, in agreement with high temperature LEED-Auger results of Dwyer, Simmons, and Wei and wide temperature range XPS studies of Akimov. We predict a low barrier to transfer of hydrogen from water to adsorbed oxygen atoms, forming hydroxyl groups on the iron surface, and a fairly low barrier to the reverse reaction. On both metals we find hydroxyl groups are strongly held. Our calculations produce a trend toward greater negativity on going from adsorbed water to hydroxyl groups, and to hydroxyl dissociation products on these surfaces. We present reaction mechanisms, transition state geometries, and analysis in terms of molecular orbital theory and the total energy. It is found that the platinum is generally less reactive than iron toward water and hydroxyl species because platinum orbitals are less diffuse and the platinum s-d band lies lower, closer to adsorbate energy levels such that adsorbate-platinum antibonding orbitals are filled.