A theoretical study of the reactivity of Cu2O(111) surfaces: the case of NO dissociation

We compare the electronic properties of Cu(111) and Cu(2)O(111) surfaces in relation to the dissociation of NO using first principles calculations within density functional theory. We note a well-defined three-fold site on both O- and Cu-terminated Cu(2)O surfaces which is verified as the active site for the adsorption and dissociation of NO. The interaction of Cu with O atoms results in the forward shifting of the local density of states and formation of unoccupied states above the Fermi level, compared to the fully occupied d band of pure Cu. These results give valuable insights in the realization of a catalyst without precious metal for the dissociation of NO.     

The interplay between geometry,electronic structure,and reactivity of Cu-Ni bimetallic (111) surfaces

The mutual influence of surface geometry (e.g. lattice parameters, morphology) and electronic structure is discussed for Cu-Ni bimetallic (111) surfaces. It is found that on flat surfaces the electronic d-states of the adlayer experience very little influence from the substrate electronic structure which is due to their large separation in binding energies and the close match of Cu and Ni lattice constants. Using carbon monoxide and benzene as probe molecules, it is found that in most cases the reactivity of Cu or Ni adlayers is very similar to the corresponding (111) single crystal surfaces. Exceptions are the adsorption of CO on submonolayers of Cu on Ni(111) and the dissociation of benzene on Ni/Cu(111) which is very different from Ni(111). These differences are related to geometric factors influencing the adsorption on these surfaces. Received: 26 August 2002 / Accepted: 4 September 2002 / Published online: 5 February 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +44-1223/76-2829, E-mail: gh10009@cam.ac.uk [+1pt] Present address: University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Department of Chemistry, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK     

A DFT study of H adsorption on Pt(111) and Pt-Ru(111) surfaces

In this work a comparative analysis between different Pt-Ru(111) surface models and pure Pt(111) surface is presented. Some aspects of the electronic structure of the surfaces and hydrogen adsorption are analysed based on density functional theory calculations. The hydrogen adsorption energy is significantly reduced when Ru is present on the surface. The substitution of Pt atoms by Ru atoms reinforce the Pt-H bond while the metal-metal bond is strongly modified, making the system less stable.     

Interactions of CO molecules adsorbed on oxidised Cu(111) and Cu(110)

Reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy has been used in conjunction with LEED and surface potential measurements to study low temperature CO adsorption on the oxidised Cu surfaces Cu(111)O|$\text{3}\text{2}\text{?}\text{2}$|, Cu(110)O(2 × 1) and Cu(110)Oc(6 × 2). On all three surfaces adsorption at 80 K yields surface potential changes in excess of 0.6 V and does not lead to the formation of an ordered overlayer. At high coverages the adsorption enthalpy is lower than on the clean surfaces. Infrared spectra show the growth of a doublet band with components initially at 2100 and 2117 cm^?1 on the oxidised Cu(111) surface. Similar features seen on the oxidised Cu(110) surfaces are accompanied by a band at 2140 cm^?1: a very weak band at the same frequency on oxidised Cu(111) is attributed to defect sites. Studies of the temperature dependence of the spectrum from oxidised Cu(111) lead to the conclusion that two different binding sites are occupied. Spectra of ${}^{12}\text{CO}{}^{13}\text{CO}$ mixtures show that the molecules occupying these sites are in close proximity to each other, and that the spectrum is subject to large but opposing coverage-dependent frequency shifts.     

Dispersion and localization of electronic states at a ferrocene/Cu(111) interface

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy combined with first-principles simulations reveal a nondissociative physisorption of ferrocene molecules on a Cu(111) surface, giving rise to ordered molecular layers. At the interface, a 2D-like electronic band is found, which shows an identical dispersion as the Cu(111) Shockley surface-state band. Subsequent deposition of Cu atoms forms charged organometallic compounds that localize interface-state electrons.     

Static investigation of the small clusters on the Cu(111) and Au(111) surfaces

The diffusion properties of small clusters Ag_n, Cu_n, and Au_n on the Cu(111) and Au(111) surfaces were studied using the molecular statics (MS) in order to understand the atomistic processes underlying the motion. In this work, the atomic interaction potential is modeled by a semi-empirical Embedded Atom Method (EAM), while the drag method is used to determine the static activation energy for each diffusion path. The presented results indicate that the dimer can diffuse on the (111) surface via the zig-zag and concerted motion mechanisms. The trimer diffuses according to the concerted motion mechanism. For the tetramer diffusion, the mechanism that consumes the least amount of energy is the zig-zag motion, in which only two atoms are needed for the diffusion process at one time. This allows finding a static activation energy smaller compared to the trimer diffusion.     

The synthesis of methanol and the reverse water-gas shift reaction over Zn-deposited Cu(100) and Cu(110) surfaces: comparison with Zn/Cu(111)

The catalytic activity of Zn vapor-deposited Cu(100) and Cu(110) surfaces for methanol synthesis by the hydrogenation of CO₂ and the reverse water-gas shift reaction were studied using an XPS apparatus combined with a high-pressure flow reactor (18 atm). At a reaction temperature of 523 K, no promotional effect of Zn was observed for the methanol synthesis on both Zn/Cu(100) and Zn/Cu(110). The results were quite different from those for Zn/Cu(111), on which a significant promotion of methanol synthesis activity appeared to be due to the deposition of Zn, indicating that the promotional effect of Zn was sensitive to the surface structure of Cu. However, hysteresis was observed in the catalytic activity for methanol synthesis over the Zn/Cu(110) surface upon heating above 543 K in the reaction mixture. The activity became twice that measured before heating, which was close to the methanol synthesis activity of Zn/Cu(111) at the same Zn coverage. On the other hand, no such hysteresis was observed for the reverse water-gas shift reaction on Zn/Cu(110), indicating that the active site for methanol synthesis was not identical to that for the reverse water-gas shift reaction. In the post-reaction surface analysis, formate species was detected on both Zn/Cu(100) and Zn/Cu(110), whose coverage increased with increasing Zn coverage at 0<Θ_Zn<0.2. No correlation between the formate coverage and the methanol synthesis activity was obtained, which was in contrast to the results for Zn/Cu(111). Thus, the structure sensitivity observed in the catalytic activity of methanol synthesis over Zn-deposited Cu surfaces is ascribed to the significant difference in the reactivity of the formate intermediate.     

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.     

X-ray photoelectron diffraction study of discommensurate Cu/Ge(111)

We have studied the atomic structure in the interior of discommensurate domains of the Cu/Ge(111) surface by using scanned-angle X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPED). XPED patterns of Cu 2p_3/2 intensity provided direct information on the local structure in the vicinity of photoelectron emitters. It has been found that a certain number of Cu atoms are embedded within the surface layer, so that the surface has some structural similarity with the discommensurate Cu/Si(111)-‘5×5’.     

Nitric oxide reduction by CO ON Rh(111): Temperature programmed reaction

The reaction of NO with CO on Rh(111) has been studied with temperature programmed reaction (TPR). Comparisons are made with the reaction of O₂ with CO and the reaction of NO with H₂. The rate-determining step for both CO oxidation reactions is CO(a) + O(a) → CO₂(g). Repulsive interactions between adsorbed CO and adsorbed nitrogen atoms lead to desorption of CO in a peak at 415 K which is in the temperature range where the reaction between CO(a) and O(a) produces CO₂(g). Thus the extent of reaction of CO(a) with NO(a) is less than that between CO(a) and O(a) due to the lower coverage of CO caused by adsorbed N atoms and NO. A similar repulsive interaction between NO(a) and H(a) suppresses the NO + H₂ reaction. CO + NO reaction behavior on Rh(111) is compared to that observed on Pt(111).     

The dynamics of desorption induced by atomic hydrogen: HD/Cu(111)

Recent observations of a direct reaction between adsorbates and hydrogen atoms incident from the gas phase are interpreted in terms of an Eley-Rideal reaction. A detailed comparison of the experimental data for the HD/Cu(111) system with quantum mechanical model calculations corroborates such an interpretation. The peculiar isotope effect observed can be understood from the different dynamical implications of appropriately rescaled potential energy surfaces. The width of the measured time-of-flight spectrum is explained from the overlapping contributions of the populated vibrational levels. The angular distributions are rationalized by contributions both from 'indirect' events, where the incident atoms make several bounces in the surface well prior to reaction, and 'direct' reactive events.     

The dynamics of desorption induced by atomic hydrogen: HD/Cu(111)

Recent observations of a direct reaction between adsorbates and hydrogen atoms incident from the gas phase are interpreted in terms of an Eley-Rideal reaction. A detailed comparison of the experimental data for the HD/Cu(111) system with quantum mechanical model calculations corroborates such an interpretation. The peculiar isotope effect observed can be understood from the different dynamical implications of appropriately rescaled potential energy surfaces. The width of the measured time-of-flight spectrum is explained from the overlapping contributions of the populated vibrational levels. The angular distributions are rationalized by contributions both from ‘indirect’ events, where the incident atoms make several bounces in the surface well prior to reaction, and ‘direct’ reactive events.     

Local effect of Na adsorption on Cu(111)

The local effect of Na adsorbed on Cu(111) at very low coverage is studied with the Density Functional Theory. We find that the Na atom and its three nearest neighbor Cu atoms tend to form a small cluster, with the Na effect on surface being localized. The Mulliken occupation, density of state, interatomic energy, and interorbital energy show that the electron transfer mainly occurs from the 2p and 3s orbitals of Na atom to the 3d and 4s orbitals of the nearest neighbor Cu atoms, with the formation of a bond with four components that have different energies. In the anti-bonding state region, the 2p state of Na plays a key role in the bond, while in the bonding state region, not only the 2p state of Na has a very significant contribution, but the 3s state (which is the outermost Na orbital) also contributes to the bond between Na and the Cu(111) surface.     

Local spectroscopy of two-dimensional states in Na films on Cu(111)

Alkali overlayers on noble metal surfaces exhibit two-dimensional electronic states. We investigated the electronic structure of Na on Cu(111) at T=5 K with scanning tunneling spectroscopy. In agreement with photoelectron spectroscopy we found two electronic bands close to the Fermi energy which correspond to quantum well states (QWS). In second monolayer islands, confinement of the QWS was observed.     

DFT study of self-coupling reaction of CF2(ads) coadsorbed on Cu(111) surface for forming CF2=CF2(g)

Total energy calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) with ultrasoft pseudopotential, generalized gradient spin-polarized approximation and the partial structural constraint path minimization (PSCPM) method were carried out to establish the energetically more favorable reaction pathways for the self-coupling reaction of coadsorbed CF_2(ads) leading to the formation of CF₂=CF_2(ads) on the Cu(111) surface. In addition, the calculated electronic properties, namely partial density of states (PDOS), suggest that the initial breaking of the Cu(111)–CF_2(ads) bond associating with the electron delocalization on the Cu(111) surface and the electron transfer from Cu(111) to both units of CF_2(ads) are factors controlling the energy barrier for self-coupling reaction. Finally, the calculated energy barrier (0.310 eV) for the self-coupling reaction of CF_2(ads) coadsorbed on the Cu(111) surface in comparison with that (0.204 eV) for the single α-fluoride elimination of adsorbed CF_3(ads) on the Cu(111) surface qualitatively manifests that the formation of CF₂ = CF_2(g) at 250 K is limited by the self-coupling reaction of coadsorbed CF_2(ads) instead of the single α-fluoride elimination of adsorbed CF_3(ads).     

Initial stage of adsorption of octithiophene molecules on Cu(111)

The initial stage of the adsorption of octithiophene (8T) molecules on a Cu(111) surface is investigated using a scanning tunneling microscope at room temperature. We find a characteristic molecular chain structure of 8T molecules on a terrace of the Cu(111) surface, which has not been reported so far for adsorption of oligothiophene molecules on metal surfaces. Up to the adsorption of 0.26 monolayer (ML), 8T molecules in the molecular chain align with their long axis parallel to the Cu<11-2> direction. With increasing coverage, there appear 8T molecules that align with their long axis parallel to the Cu<110> direction. The appearance of different molecular orientations is understood by the decrease of the number of the adsorption sites for extending the molecular chains. Fragments of 8T molecules, such as single thiophene molecules, are also observed in this work. They are trapped only at the step edges of the Cu(111) surface at the beginning and later trapped in a small Cu(111) region surrounded by 8T molecules.     

The dynamics of desorption induced by atomic hydrogen: HD/Cu(111)

Recent observations of a direct reaction between adsorbates and hydrogen atoms incident from the gas phase are interpreted in terms of an Eley-Rideal reaction. A detailed comparison of the experimental data for the HD/Cu(111) system with quantum mechanical model calculations corroborates such an interpretation. The peculiar isotope effect observed can be understood from the different dynamical implications of appropriately rescaled potential energy surfaces. The width of the measured time-of-flight spectrum is explained from the overlapping contributions of the populated vibrational levels. The angular distributions are rationalized by contributions both from ‘indirect’ events, where the incident atoms make several bounces in the surface well prior to reaction, and ‘direct’ reactive events.     

Ag/Cu(111)与Au/Cu(111)体系异质外延岛演化过程中的应变释放及其对Moiré结构形成的影响

采用嵌入原子方法的原子间相互作用势，利用分子动力学模拟方法研究了Au/Cu(111)和Ag/Cu (111)体系的异质外延结构特征以及外延岛形貌和应变释放的演化过程. 通过对比Au/Cu(111)和Ag/Cu (111)体系的异质外延结构及外延岛演化行为，揭示了导致Ag/Cu (111)体系中异质外延层形成Moiré结构的微观物理机理及其与外延体系的宏观物理特性之间的关系. 研究结果显示，外延岛原子与基体表面原子之间的界面结合强度是形成Moiré结构的重要因素，异质外延体系的界面结合强度取决于二者的合金熔解热. 当异质外延体系的合金熔解热为正值时，界面结合强度较弱，有利于Moiré结构的形成. 同时，外延岛原子之间的相互作用决定着外延岛的面内弛豫行为，对Moiré结构的形成有一定的影响. 外延岛的面内弛豫行为与外延层和基体之间的相对刚度有关，弹性模量较大的外延层具有较强的延展能力，对Moiré结构的形成有利. 此外，Moiré结构的形成与外延岛的尺度有关，主要是外延岛边界原子的钉扎作用对外延岛内原子弛豫行为的约束作用的影响.     

Realization of semiconducting Cu2Se by direct selenization of Cu(111)

Bulk group IB transition-metal chalcogenides have been widely explored due to their applications in thermoelectrics. However, a layered two-dimensional form of these materials has been rarely reported. Here, we realize semiconducting Cu₂Se by direct selenization of Cu(111). Scanning tunneling microcopy measurements combined with first-principles calculations allow us to determine the structural and electronic properties of the obtained structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data reveal chemical composition of the sample, which is Cu₂Se. The observed moiré pattern indicates a lattice mismatch between Cu₂Se and the underlying Cu(111)-$\sqrt{3}$×$\sqrt{3}$ surface. Differential conductivity obtained by scanning tunneling spectroscopy demonstrates that the synthesized Cu₂Se exhibits a band gap of 0.78 eV. Furthermore, the calculated density of states and band structure demonstrate that the isolated Cu₂Se is a semiconductor with an indirect band gap of ～ 0.8 eV, which agrees quite well with the experimental results. Our study provides a simple pathway varying toward the synthesis of novel layered 2D transition chalcogenides materials.     

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。