Coverage-dependent absorption of atomic hydrogen into the sub-surface of Cu(1 1 1) studied by density-functional-theory calculations

With density-functional-theory calculations, we have studied coverage-dependent absorption of H atoms into the sub-surface below a face-centered-cubic (fcc) hollow site of Cu(1 1 1). Both frozen and relaxed surface lattices were considered when the atomic H migrated from the surface to the sub-surface. The potential energy curve for the absorbing H shows that the surface site is in general favored over the sub-surface site, and this trend varies little with the H coverage (0.11-0.67 ML). If the hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) hollow sites immediately vicinal to the absorbing H are pre-adsorbed with other H atoms, the surface adsorption potential is greatly increased, because of the repulsive H-H interaction, to a value near, or even greater than, the sub-surface absorption potential; when two or three H atoms (on the hcp sites) are beside the absorbing H, the energy barrier for the sub-surface absorption is decreased, whereas that for diffusion from the sub-surface to the surface is enhanced. These results indicate that, on an H-saturated Cu(1 1 1) surface (0.67 ML), the sub-surface sites below the fcc sites with two or three neighboring H atoms can trap the sub-surface H.     

Role of adsorption on surface composition of Pd–Cu nanoparticles

Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation is used to study the role of adsorption of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon monoxide (CO) on the surface composition and surface bond geometry of Pd–Cu nanoparticles. For clean particles the surface is found to be enriched in Cu. But in the presence of adsorbed hydrogen and CO there is a segregation reversal from Cu segregation at low coverage to Pd segregation at high coverage. In the presence of adsorbed oxygen, on the contrary, the extent of Cu segregation increases with coverage. For a 586-atom nanoparticle with 50% Pd in the bulk the corner sites are found to be occupied by Cu atoms up to one monolayer adsorption. But, while the occupancy of 7, 8 and 9-coordinated sites by Cu atoms decreases with increase of H and CO coverage, for oxygen adsorption this occupancy increases with coverage. The relevance of such results in catalysis studies is discussed.     

Enhanced reactivity and selectivity in oxidation of Cu(1 0 0) and α-Cu-Al(5 at.%)(1 0 0) surfaces studied by electron and ion spectroscopies

In this study we investigate the influence of alloying on the reactivity and bonding of oxygen on α-Cu-Al(5 at.%)(1 0 0) oriented single crystal surfaces by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultra-violet spectroscopy (UPS) and low energy ion scattering (LEIS) spectroscopy, at room temperature. It was found that alloying results in an enhanced reactivity of both Cu and Al sites in comparison with the pure metals. According to adsorption curves calculated from XPS, saturation of the alloy surface occurs for exposures of ∼15 L. At saturation the total amount of adsorbed oxygen is similar for the alloy and pure copper surfaces. It was determined that first mostly Al sites are oxidized, followed by simultaneous oxidation of Cu and Al sites. At saturation the amount of oxygen bonded to Cu sites is ∼1.7 larger then that bonded to Al sites. From a comparison of the XPS and LEIS data analysis as a function of oxygen exposure it was found that oxidation of α-Cu-Al(5 at.%)(1 0 0) alloy is a multi-stage process with fast and slow stages. These stages involve an interplay of chemisorption, sub-surface diffusion of oxygen and Al segregation. UPS measurements show an increase in the work function of the alloy surface with oxygen adsorption. This is a contrast to pure Cu surfaces where the work function decreases at the initial stages of oxidation followed by an increase with oxygen exposure. Annealing to 400 °C drives the oxidized alloy surface into its thermodynamic state resulting in the formation of an aluminum oxide layer. Possible mechanisms to explain the enhanced reactivity of the alloy surface compared to that of pure copper are suggested and discussed.     

氯原子在Cu(111)表面的吸附结构和电子态

密度泛函理论(DFT)总能计算研究了不同覆盖度下氯原子在Cu(111)表面的吸附结构和表面电子态。计算结果表明,清洁Cu(111)表面自由能 为15.72 ,表面功函数φ为4.753eV。在1/4ML和1/3ML覆盖度下,每个氯原子在Cu(111)表面fcc谷位的吸附能分别等于3.278eV/atom和3.284eV/atom。在1/2ML覆盖度下,两个紧邻氯原子分别吸附于fcc和hcp谷位,氯原子的平均吸附能为2.631eV/atom。在1/3ML覆盖度下,fcc和hcp两个位置每个氯原子吸附能的差值约为2meV/atom,与正入射X光驻波实验结合蒙特卡罗方法得到结果(<10meV/atom)基本一致。在1/4ML、1/3ML和1/2ML覆盖度下,吸附后Cu(111)表面的功函数依次为5.263eV、5.275eV和5.851eV。吸附原子和衬底价轨道杂化形成的局域表面电子态位于费米能级以下约1.2eV、3.6eV和4.5eV等处。吸附能和电子结构的计算结果表明,氯原子间的直接作用和表面铜原子紧邻氯原子数目是决定表面结构的两个重要因素。     

石墨烯基PtCu二元金属催化剂对甲醇吸附性能的理论研究

直接甲醇燃料电池作为最有潜力的能源越来越受到人们的关注。本文主要采用密度泛函理论（DFT),对石墨烯基PtCu催化剂吸附甲醇的结构进行了理论研究。通过分析甲醇吸附前后前线分子轨道、电荷和吸附能的变化,发现PtCu二元金属催化剂与甲醇相互作用中,甲醇容易吸附于Pt位点上。对于PtCu二元金属的Cu位点的吸附能力与纯Cu相比变化不大,但是PtCu二元金属的Pt位点相对于纯Pt催化剂对甲醇的吸附能力却有明显的提高。因此Cu的掺杂对于提高Pt位点的活性起到促进作用     

Surface concentration profile and surface energy in binary alloys

An improved formulation for the orientation-dependence of multi-layer surface segregation is developed in terms of bond enthalpy and strain energy minimization. Inclusion of this result in the Gibbs adsorption isotherm yields the surface energy. Sample calculations of the surface energy isotherm for solid AuCu and liquid CuNi alloys are in good agreement with published experimental data. The conditions for the existence of an extremum in the surface energy isotherm, originally derived by Defay et al. from a monolayer model, are re-examined on the basis of a multi-layer model. Their results are found applicable to this more general situation in the absence of strain energy. An orientation-dependence of the extremum surface energy, but not of the composition at which the extremum surface energy occurs, is demonstrated.     

Role of sub-surface oxygen in Cu(100) oxidation

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to investigate the role of sub-surface oxygen in Cu(100) oxidation. We find that the presence of sub-surface oxygen atoms causes the top copper layer of the missing-row reconstructed surface to rise by 1.7 Å compared to the bare surface. This prediction compares well to an earlier scanning tunneling microscopy measurement of 1.8 Å [Lampimaki et al. Journal of Chemical Physics 126 (2007) 034703]. When the missing-row reconstructed surface is exposed to an additional oxygen molecule, surface restructuring that leads to oxide-like structures is only observed when sub-surface oxygen is present. The oxide-like nature of these structures is confirmed through structural, Bader, and electron density of states analyses. These findings, combined with our previous DFT results that predicted low energy barriers for the embedment of oxygen atoms into the sub-surface [Lee and McGaughey, Surface Science 603 (2009) 3404], demonstrate the key role played by sub-surface oxygen in Cu(100) oxidation.     

Impact of electron–hole pair excitation on the kinetics of exoergic processes at metal surfaces

The effect of energy disposal to metal surfaces, via electron–hole (e–h) pair excitation, on the rate of exoergic processes such as adsorption and adatom recombination, has been investigated. The modeling is based on the mean field rate equations and allows one to couple e–h pair excitation with either recombination or stimulated-desorption processes within a unique kinetic scheme. The energy distribution function of the metal electrons and the number of electrons available for detection as “chemicurrent” have been computed and compared to experimental results on chemicurrent yield for the H–Cu system. The kinetic model can also be applied to interpret experimental data on H(D)-adatom abstraction and recombination and on adsorption stimulated desorption of CO from metal surfaces. Rate coefficients of these desorption processes are proper for non-equilibrium energy distribution functions of the adlayer, which depend on the flux of adsorbing species and correlate to the surface electron density as modified by the adsorbate.     

铝和银在铱（111）宽范围吸附的稳定性、原子构型及电子特性研究

利用第一性原理密度泛函理论研究了铝和银在铱的111面的宽范围吸附特性。基于密度泛函理论计算了覆盖度在0.11ML到2.00ML的结构稳定性、原子构型及平均结合能。对于铝原子在铱111面的吸附,最稳定的结构是铝原子覆盖度为0.5ML位于密堆六方空位（hcp-hollow）,相应的结合能为-4.68eV;对于亚层铝原子的吸附,最稳定结构是铝原子覆盖度为1.00ML时位于octahedral位置,相应的结合能为-5.28eV。对于覆盖度为2.00ML的满覆盖度混合结构的表层及亚层吸附,最稳定结构是Al位于六方密堆及八方密堆位置,相应的结合能为-4.70eV。这意味着当铝原子以满覆盖度吸附在铱的111面上时,趋向于在铱的111面的亚层形成化学键,而非吸附于表层。相比于铝吸附在铱111面,银的吸附特性呈现出很大的不同,面心位置更为稳定,在覆盖度为0.25ML时其结合能为3.89eV,略微高出密堆六方位置处3.88eV的结合能。     

铝和银在铱（111）宽范围吸附的稳定性、原子构型及电子特性研究

利用第一性原理密度泛函理论研究了铝和银在铱的111面的宽范围吸附特性。基于密度泛函理论计算了覆盖度在0.11ML到2.00ML的结构稳定性、原子构型及平均结合能。对于铝原子在铱111面的吸附,最稳定的结构是铝原子覆盖度为0.5ML位于密堆六方空位（hcp-hollow）,相应的结合能为-4.68eV;对于亚层铝原子的吸附,最稳定结构是铝原子覆盖度为1.00ML时位于octahedral位置,相应的结合能为-5.28eV。对于覆盖度为2.00ML的满覆盖度混合结构的表层及亚层吸附,最稳定结构是Al位于六方密堆及八方密堆位置,相应的结合能为-4.70eV。这意味着当铝原子以满覆盖度吸附在铱的111面上时,趋向于在铱的111面的亚层形成化学键,而非吸附于表层。相比于铝吸附在铱111面,银的吸附特性呈现出很大的不同,面心位置更为稳定,在覆盖度为0.25ML时其结合能为3.89eV,略微高出密堆六方位置处3.88eV的结合能。     

Theoretical study of interaction between atoms of Au, Ag, Cu and clean Si(1 1 1) surface

To evaluate the interactions between the atoms of Au, Ag and Cu and clean Si(1 1 1) surface, two types of silicon clusters Si₄H₇ and Si₁₆H₂₀ together with their metal complexes were studied by using hybrid (U)B3LYP density functional theory method. Optimized geometries and energies on different adsorption sites indicate that: (1) the binding energies at different adsorption sites are large (ranging from 1.2 to 2.6 eV depend on the metal atoms and adsorption sites), suggesting a strong interaction between metal atom and silicon surface; (2) the most favorable adsorption site is the on top (T) site. Mulliken population analysis indicated that in the system of on top (T) site, a covalent bond is formed between metal atom and dangling bond of surface Si atom.     

SERS study of a tetrapeptide based on histidine and glycine residues,adsorbed on copper/silver colloidal nanoparticles

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering has been employed to characterize the adsorption of an oligopeptide containing histidine residues on colloidal nanoparticles of metals as Ag and Cu obtained by laser ablation. The title molecule consists of two histidine and glycine residues alternating along the chain and terminating with an acetyl on one side and an amide group on the other. Histidine residues are found to act as docking sites of the molecule to the surface of the metal nanoparticles. Semiempirical parameterized model number 3 (PM3) calculations performed on molecule/metal model complexes suggest possible different adsorption geometries depending on the metallic substrate. This investigation could provide useful information to address the interaction of protein systems with metal ions, which is often related to fundamental biological process in living systems and can play an important role in different neuropathological diseases. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NO adsorption and thermal behavior on Pd surfaces. A detailed comparative study

The adsorption and thermal behavior of NO on ‘flat’ Pd(111) and ‘stepped’ Pd(112) surfaces has been investigated by temperature programmed desorption (TPD), high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), and electron stimulated desorption ion angular distribution (ESDIAD) techniques. NO is shown to molecularly adsorb on both Pd(111) and Pd(112) in the temperature range 100–373 K. NO thermally desorbs predominantly molecularly from Pd(111) near 500 K with an activation energy and pre-exponential factor of desorption which strongly depend on the initial NO surface coverage. In contrast, NO decomposes substantially on Pd(112) upon heating, with relatively large amounts of N₂ and N₂O desorbing near 500 K, in addition to NO. The fractional amount of NO dissociation on Pd(112) during heating is observed to be a strong function of the initial NO surface coverage. HREELS results indicate that the thermal dissociation of NO on both Pd(111) and Pd(112) occurs upon annealing to 490 K, forming surface-bound O on both surfaces. Evidence for the formation of sub-surface O via NO thermal dissociation is found only on Pd(112), and is verified by dissociative O₂ adsorption experiments. Both surface-bound O and sub-surface O dissolve into the Pd bulk upon annealing of both surfaces to 550 K. HREELS and ESDIAD data consistently indicate that NO preferentially adsorbs on the (111) terrace sites of Pd(112) at low coverages, filling the (001) step sites only at high coverage. This result was verified for adsorption temperatures in the range 100–373 K. In addition, the thermal dissociation of NO on Pd(112) is most prevalent at low coverages, where only terrace sites are occupied by NO. Thus, by direct comparison to NO/Pd(111), this study shows that the presence of steps on the Pd(112) surface enhances the thermal dissociation of NO, but that adsorption at the step sites is not the criterion for this decomposition.     

Influence of surface orientation and defects on early-stage oxidation and ultrathin oxide growth on pure copper

We investigate oxidation and oxide growth on single-crystal copper surfaces using reactive molecular dynamics simulation. The kinetics of surface oxide growth are strongly correlated with the microstructure of the metal substrates. Simulating oxide layer growth along the (100), (110), and (111) orientations of crystalline copper, oxidation characteristics are investigated at temperatures of 300?K and 600?K. The oxidation kinetics are found to strongly depend on the surface orientation, ambient temperature, and surface defects. The effect of surface morphology on oxidation characteristics is analyzed by comparing oxygen adsorption on various sites and the structure factor. The surface oxide formed on (100) retains the initial crystal structure in the 300–600?K range. The (100) surface shows the highest oxidation rate at both temperature conditions but saturates, facilitating oxygen adsorption on hollow sites. The oxidation kinetics of the (100) orientation are found to be not significantly affected by surface defects. (110) shows modest oxidation at 300?K but the highest oxidation is observed at 600?K. By surface disorder and reconstruction, the oxide layer is produced continuously. The (111) surface is sensitive to ambient temperature and surface defects, showing that surface reconstruction is a key element for further oxidation. The charge distribution of oxidized Cu atoms indicates multiple groups of stoichiometric oxides, while the fraction of CuO-like characteristics increases significantly on the (110) and (111) orientations at higher temperature (600?K). The energetics and mechanisms of oxidation on Cu metal substrates at the nanoscale are discussed in detail, and comparisons with available experimental and other theoretical studies are presented wherever possible.     

洁净和氧吸附的Cu(100)表面重构的理论研究

在密度泛函理论下,计算了清洁和吸附氧原子的Cu(100)表面的驰豫和优势吸附构型。结果表明,氧原子在金属表面采用四重穴位时,具有最大的结合能,顶位吸附时结合能最小,桥位吸附时结合能居间。这一计算结果与实验报道一致。各种密度泛函方法的比较后,发现采用mPW1PW91密度泛函和LanL2dz赝势基组,能够准确给出与实验相符的计算结果。平板模型计算的分态密度图显示,在吸附过程中出现d轨道向Fermi能级移动并越过Fermi能级,而O原子的p轨道能级远离Fermi能级,表明有电子从铜原子的d轨道转移到氧原子的2p轨道,簇模型和平板模型的布居分析显示表面氧带有约0.65～0.7 e的负电荷。研究表明,采用适当的基组和泛函方法,即使采用簇模型来模拟表面,也可以获得与实验比较吻合的计算结果。     

CO adsorption on Rh, Pd and Ag atoms deposited on the MgO surface: a comparative ab initio study

The adsorption properties of CO molecules adsorbed on Rh, Pd, and Ag atoms supported on various sites of the MgO surface have been studied by means of a density functional cluster model approach. The metal atoms are stabilized with different binding energies on the regular and morphological defect sites of the surface. Among others we considered oxide anions, neutral and charged anion vacancies (F centers) located at terraces, steps, edges, and corners. CO is used as a probe molecule to characterize where the metal atoms are located. This is done by analyzing how the metal-CO binding energy and the C-O stretching frequency change as function of the substrate site where the metal atom is bound.     

Ba和Sr原子在ZnO(0001)表面吸附的密度泛函理论研究

我们采用密度泛函理论下的平面波赝势方法研究Ba和Sr原子在ZnO(0001)表面的吸附结构和性质,仔细研究了三个吸附位（T4, H3 and Top）。发现Ba和Sr吸附在表面的H3和T4位时,他们之间的结合能相差很小,且这两种金属更易于吸附在表面的T4位,我们把计算的结果与贵金属在ZnO(0001)表面的吸附行为及前人的实验结果进行了比较,理论上发现Ag和Au易于吸附在ZnO(0001)表面的H3位,而实验上观察到即使在很小吸附比的条件下ZnO(0001)表面上也能形成Cu的团簇结构,这主要是由于Cu和ZnO(0001)表面衬底强的相互作用所致。     

Ba和Sr原子在ZnO(0001)表面吸附的密度泛函理论研究

我们采用密度泛函理论下的平面波赝势方法研究Ba和Sr原子在ZnO(0001)表面的吸附结构和性质,仔细研究了三个吸附位（T4, H3 and Top）。发现Ba和Sr吸附在表面的H3和T4位时,他们之间的结合能相差很小,且这两种金属更易于吸附在表面的T4位,我们把计算的结果与贵金属在ZnO(0001)表面的吸附行为及前人的实验结果进行了比较,理论上发现Ag和Au易于吸附在ZnO(0001)表面的H3位,而实验上观察到即使在很小吸附比的条件下ZnO(0001)表面上也能形成Cu的团簇结构,这主要是由于Cu和ZnO(0001)表面衬底强的相互作用所致。     

On-surface and sub-surface oxygen on ideal and reconstructed Cu(1 0 0)

In order to understand the first steps of the Cu(1 0 0) oxidation we performed first principles calculations for on-surface and sub-surface oxygen on this surface. According to our calculations, the adsorption energies for all on-surface site oxygen atoms increase, whereas the energies of the sub-surface atoms decrease with the increasing oxygen coverage. At coverage 1 ML and higher on the reconstructed surface, structures including both on- and sub-surface atoms are energetically more favourable than structures consisting only of on-surface adsorbates. On the ideal (1 0 0) surface this change can be perceived at coverage 0.75 ML.     

Structural and electronic properties of Na/Cu(111) at different coverages by first principles

Nanostructures are presently enjoying an increasing interest in the field of materials science. In particular, importance is given to ordered monolayers prepared by deposition of atoms on a crystalline surface. The growth of these superlattices can be controlled so as to obtain an ordered structure by means of the lateral interaction of adatoms lying on the metal surface. The objective of our study is to investigate the structural and electronic properties using DFT total-energy calculations; we employ a jellium-like model to describe the substrate but we also take into account the presence of discrete surface states that are known to affect the lateral interaction. Our treatment of the substrate is based on the model proposed by E.V. Chulkov et al. [Surf. Sci. 437, 330 (1999)]; in this model one constructs a mono-dimensional potential so as to reproduce some important electronic properties of the metal surface, such as i) the energy gap in the projected bulk band-structure and ii) the energy position of surface states. We put into practice Chulkov potential implementing into an existing plane-waves code (ABINIT, URL http://www.abinit.org) an ionic potential, so as to obtain a self-consistent Kohn-Sham effective potential which corresponds to the Chulkov one. Using this effective potential in a fully three-dimensional code we are able to study the adsorption process and the interaction between adsorbates. We illustrate some details of our implementation of the Chulkov model and we present our results about the simple system of Na adatoms on a Cu(111) surface for different coverages. In particular, we compare electronic properties and adsorption energies with those obtained within a standard jellium model substrate and with those obtained for Na adsorption on a realistic Cu(111) surface.