Energetics of C–C Bond Scission in Ethane Hydrogenolysis: A Theoretical Study of Possible Intermediates and Reaction Pathways

C–C bond scission steps, which are often considered as rate-determining in ethane hydrogenolysis, are studied by the Unity Bond Index–Quadratic Exponential UBI–QEP method. The binding energies of atomic carbon with Group VIII and IB metal surfaces Ni(111), Pd(111), Pt(111), Rh(111), Ru(001), Ir(111), Fe(110), Cu(111), and Au(111) are estimated using experimental data on the adsorption of various species on these surfaces. These estimates are corrected using data from density functional theory (DFT) on the adsorption heats of the CH _x species. Metal surfaces are arranged in the following series according to the binding strength of a carbon atom: Cu(111) < Au(111) < Pd(111) < Ru(001) Pt(111) < Ni(111) Rh(111) < Ir(111) < Fe(110). The values of chemisorption heats range from 121 kcal/mol for Au(111) to 193 kcal/mol for Fe(110). The activity of these surfaces toward C–C bond scission increases in the same series. The results of this work suggest that the most probable C–C bond scission precursors are ethyl, ethylidyne, adsorbed acetylene, CH₂CH, CH₂C, and CHC. Theoretical data obtained by different methods are compared and found to agree well with each other. An overview of experimental data on ethane hydrogenolysis mechanisms is given.     

Nanoporous ultra-high-entropy alloys containing fourteen elements for water splitting electrocatalysis

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are near-equimolar alloys comprising five or more elements. In recent years, catalysis using HEAs has attracted considerable attention across various fields. Herein, we demonstrate the facile synthesis of nanoporous ultra-high-entropy alloys (np-UHEAs) with hierarchical porosity via dealloying. These np-UHEAs contain up to 14 elements, namely, Al, Ag, Au, Co, Cu, Fe, Ir, Mo, Ni, Pd, Pt, Rh, Ru, and Ti. Furthermore, they exhibit high catalytic activities and electrochemical stabilities in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic media, superior to that of commercial Pt/graphene and IrO₂ catalysts. Our results offer valuable insights for the selection of elements as catalysts for various applications.

Nanoporous ultra-high-entropy alloys containing 14 elements (Al, Ag, Au, Co, Cu, Fe, Ir, Mo, Ni, Pd, Pt, Rh, Ru, and Ti) were obtained by dealloying. The products showed excellent electrocatalytic performance for water splitting in acidic media.     

A systematic density functional theory study of the C-N bond cleavage of methylamine on metals

The C-N bond cleavage for the relative large molecule of methylamine on Cu(1111), Ag(111), Au(111), Ni(111), Rh(111), Pd(111), Pt(111), and Mo(100) has been systemically studied using the DFT-GGA method; the reaction energy changes and the activation energies were obtained. The calculated results show that the activation energy of C-N bond cleavage decreases as the metal element goes up and to the left across the periodic table, which is in general agreement with the experimental observation. Moreover, it was found that the steric effect should be considered for the metals with high activity and small radius such as Ni, which is much different from the case for the small molecule decomposition in which the steric effect may be ignored. The linear relationships between the activation energies and electronic properties (d-band center) are presented. It is expected that such a rule can be used to predict the reactivity of metal for other dissociative adsorption systems.     

Catalytic effects of peroxidase-like metalloporphyrins on the fluorescence reaction of homovanillic acid with hydrogen peroxide

Summary The catalytic effects of peroxidase-like metalloporphyrins (Me-P) on the fluorescence reaction of homovanillic acid with hydrogen peroxide have been studied. These metalloporphyrins are the complexes of Mn with tetrakis(carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TPPC) and trikis(sulfophenyl)porphyrin(TPPS₃), Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag and Sn with tetrakis(sulfophenyl)porphyrin(TPPS₄), and Rh, Pt and Pd with tetrakis(N-methylpyridiniumyl)porphyrin-(TMPyP) and hemin. The complexes of Mn, Fe, Co, Rh and Pt with porphyrins catalyzed the formation of the fluorescence product, while the complexes of Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Sn and Pd did not. Traces of hydrogen peroxide and glucose can be determined using the metalloporphyrins. The characteristics of peroxidase-like metalloporphyrins have been compared with those of horseradish peroxidase (HRP).     

Environmental Catalysis of Vehicle Exhaust Gas:UBI-QEP Energetic Analysis

The Vehicle exhaust gas generally contains nitrogen oxides and the fossil fuel which do greatly harm to air environment. Although the use of catalytic converters for the vehicle gas has resulted in considerable progress in the past twenty years, a theoretical framework for explaining the experimental observations fashion is still lacking. We use the UBI-QEP method^[1] to analyze the chemisorbed species and calculate the energies of elementary reactions on following six mental single crystal surfaces:Pt(111),Pd(111), Rh(111),Ag(111),Cu(111) and Ni(111). It will help us to realize the reaction mechanism and choose the best suitable catalysts.     

The relationship between adsorption energies of methyl on metals and the metallic electronic properties: a first-principles DFT study

A theoretical study of CH3 adsorbed on the (111) surface of some transition and noble metal surfaces M (M = Cu, Ni, Rh, Pt, Pd, Ag, Au) and on the Fe(100) is presented. We find that the hollow site is preferred more than the top one for Fe, Ni, Rh, and Cu, but it is the other way for Pt, Pd, Au, and Ag. In addition, a good linear relationship was observed between the chemisorption energy and d-band center for Group VIII metals or the square of the coupling matrix element for Group IB metals at the hollow site. Interestingly, with a detailed comparison of the adsorption energies at the top and hollow sites, we find that the adsorption energies among each group are very similar on the top site, which supports the theoretical model of Hammer and Norskov that the coupling between the HOMO of adsorbate and sp states of the metal is dominant and almost equal, and that the second coupling to the d-band contributes less but reflects the change of the adsorption energy. It confirms that the coupling to the d band comprises two opposite factors, that is, the d-band center was attractive and the square of the coupling matrix element was repulsive, such that the contributions from the two factors can counteract each other at the top site.     

CO adsorption on pure and binary-alloy gold clusters: a quantum chemical study

We performed density-functional theory analysis of nondissociative CO adsorption on 22 binary Au-alloy (Au(n)M(m)) clusters: n=0-3, m=0-3, and m+n=2 (dimers) or 3 (trimers), M=Cu/Ag/Pd/Pt. We report basis-set superposition error corrections to adsorption energies and include both internal energy of adsorption (DeltaU(ads)) and Gibbs free energy of adsorption (DeltaG(ads)) at standard conditions (298.15 K and 1 atm). We found onefold (atop) CO binding on all the clusters except Pd2 (twofold/bridged), Pt2 (twofold/bridged), and Pd3 (threefold). In agreement with the experimental results, we found that CO adsorption is thermodynamically favorable on pure Au/Cu clusters but not on pure Ag clusters and also observed the following adsorption affinity trend: Pd>Pt>Au>Cu>Ag. For alloy dimers we found the following patterns: Au2>M Au>M2 (M=Ag/Cu) and M2>M Au>Au2 (M=Pd/Pt). Alloying Ag/Cu dimers with (more reactive) Au enhanced adsorption and the opposite effect was observed for PdPt dimers. The Ag-Au, Cu-Au, and Pd-Au trimers followed the trends observed on dimers: Au3>M Au2>M2Au>M3 (M=Ag/Cu) and Pd3>Pd2Au>PdAu2>Au3. Interestingly, Pt-Au trimers reacted differently and alloying with Au systematically increased the adsorption affinity: PtAu2>Pt2Au>Pt3>Au3. A strikingly different behavior of Pt is also manifested by the triplet spin state and onefold (atop) binding in Pt3-CO which is in contradiction with the singlet spin state and threefold binding in Pd3-CO. We found a linear correlation between CO binding energy (BE) and elongation of the CO bond. For Ag-Au and Cu-Au clusters, the increase in CO BE (and elongation of the C-O bond which is probably due to the back donation) is accompanied by the decrease in the cluster-CO distance suggesting that the donation (from 5sigma highest occupied molecular orbital in CO to cluster lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) mechanism also contributes to the BE. For Pd-Au clusters, the cluster-CO distance (and CO bond length) increases with increase in the BE, suggesting that the donation mechanism may not be important for those clusters. No clear trend was observed for Pt-Au clusters.     

Extractive concentration of platinum-group elements and their determination by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry

The extraction of Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, Ru, Ag, Au, Co, Cu, Ni and Fe with n-octylaniline has been investigated. Noble metals are extracted 10(3)-10(4) times better than Cu, Ni, Co and Fe. A method of determination of Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh and Ru is proposed. They are first separated from Cu, Ni, Co and Fe by means of extraction (and then determined, in either the aqueous or organic phase, by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. The atomic absorption of platinum metals (with the exception of Pd) is affected by other elements of the platinum group and by non-noble metals. La(NO(3))(3) and Nd(NO(3))(3) lower the limit of detection for Pt, Rh, Ir and Ru and inhibit the effect of Co, Cu, Ni, Fe, Bi, Zn, Na, etc. on their determination. Lanthanum and neodymium chlorides and sulphates produce a similar effect but only on the determination of Pt and Rh. The coefficient of variation of the determination, in both phases, is within 2-6.8%.     

CO2在金属表面活化的能学方法研究

应用UBI-QEP方法, 估算了CO2-在金属表面的吸附热, 并计算了CO2在Cu(111)、Pd(111)、Fe(111)、Ni(111)表面的各种反应途径的活化能垒. 结果表明, CO2-在4种过渡金属表面相对的稳定性和CO2解离吸附的活性顺序一致,均为Fe>Ni>Cu>Pd. 说明CO2-可能是CO2解离吸附的关键中间体. 在Cu、Pd、Ni表面上, CO2解离吸附的最终产物是CO,而在Fe表面其最终会解离成C和O. 在Cu、Fe、Ni表面, CO2加氢活化是一种有效模式, 而在Pd上则不容易进行. 在Cu和Pd表面,碳酸盐物种也可能是CO2活化的重要中间体.     

Development of liquid-liquid extraction and separation method for ruthenium(III) with 2-octylaminopyridine from succinate media: Analysis of catalysts

Ruthenium(III) has been efficiently extracted from 0.05 M sodium succinate at pH 9.5 by 2-octylaminopyridine in xylene and stripped with aqueous 10% (w/v) thiourea solution and determined spectrophotometrically. Various parameters viz., pH, weak acid concentration, reagent concentration, stripping agents, contact time, loading capacity, aq.: org. volume ratio, solvent has been thoroughly investigated for quantitative extraction of ruthenium(III). The utility of method was analyzed by separating the ruthenium(III) from binary mixture along with the base metals like Cu(II), Ag(I), Fe(II), Co(II), Bi(III), Zn(II), Ni(II), Se(IV), Te(IV), Al(III) and Hg(II) as well as platinum group metals (PGMs). Ruthenium(III) was also separated from ternary mixtures like Os(VIII), Pd(II); Pd(II), Pt(IV); Pd(II), Au(III); Pd(II), Cu(II); Fe(II), Cu(II); Ni(II), Cu(II); Co(II), Ni(II); Se(IV), Te(IV); Rh(III), Pd(II); Fe(III), Os(VIII). The stoichiometry 1: 2: 1 (metal: succinate: extractant) of the proposed complex was determined by slope analysis method by plotting graph of logD _[Ru(III)] versus logC _[2-OAP] and logD _[Ru(III)] versus logC _[succinate]. The interference of various cations and anions has been studied in detail and the statistical evaluations of the experimental results are reported. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of ruthenium in various catalysts, synthetic mixtures corresponding to the composition of alloys and minerals.     

First-principles Density Functional Theory Elucidation of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on TM-promoted TiC2 (TM=Fe,Co, Ni,Cu, Ru,Rh, Pd,Ag, Os,Ir, Pt,and Au)

Single-atom-catalyst-based systems have been attractive by virtue of their desirable catalytic performance. Herein, the possibility of the 15 transition-metal (TM)-promoted (TM=Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, and Hg) and their hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance were investigated on two-dimensional titanium carbides (TiC₂). It is found that the adsorption strength of TMs on TiC₂ is stronger than that of TMs on γ-graphyne and weaker than that of TMs on Ti₃C₂. Among the fifteen investigated catalysts, Ru−TiC₂, Ag−TiC₂, Ir−TiC₂, Au−TiC₂, and Fe−TiC₂ exhibits overpotential of −0.18, −0.15, −0.18, −0.17, and −0.04 V, respectively. In addition, the Volmer-Tafel step was preferred to the Volmer-Heyrovsky step on Fe−TiC₂. This work suggests that Fe−TiC₂ is possibly a superior HER electrocatalyst.     

Density Functional Study of Catalytic Activity of Cu<Subscript>12</Subscript>TM for Water Gas Shift Reaction

Based on density functional theory calculations, we have systematically studied the WGS reaction on various nanosized Cu₁₂TM of Co, Ni, Cu (from the 3d row), Rh, Pd, Ag (from the 4d row), Ir, Pt, Au (from the 5d row). The reaction mechanism proposed by Langmuir–Hinshelwood has been followed, which corresponds to \({\text{CO* + OH* }} \to {\text{COOH*}} \to {\text{CO}}_{2} {\text{ + H*}}\). The comparison of the Gibbs free energy profiles of carboxyl mechanism on different Cu₁₂TM systems concludes that WGS reaction is determined by the steps of H₂ forming and OH* reacting with CO* to form COOH*. BEP relationship between activation barriers (Ea) and reaction energies (ΔH) on a series of Cu₁₂TM clusters is very good. What’s more, the activation barrier of rate-determining step of Cu₁₂Au is the smallest. TOF, with the aid of An Energetic Span Model (ESM), is used to estimate the efficiency of the different Cu₁₂TM clusters. The results show that the values of TOFs in doping Cu₁₂Rh, Cu₁₂Ir and Cu₁₂Pt are smaller than that in pure Cu. Moreover, the values of TOFs in doping Cu₁₂Co, Cu₁₂Ni, Cu₁₂Pd, Cu₁₂Ag, and Cu₁₂Au are higher than that in Cu₁₃. The higher value of TOF, the more favorable catalysts they are. This results shoud be helpful in developing efficient catalysts for WGS reaction. Finally, d-band center is used to explain the binding energy of CO and H₂O. It shows that there is a good liner relationship between d-band center and binding energy of CO but not for H₂O.     

CO\begin{document}$ _{2} $\end{document} Reduction on Metal-Doped SnO\begin{document}$ _{2} $\end{document}(110) Surface Catalysts: Manipulating the Product by Changing the Ratio of Sn:O

The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) producing HCOOH and CO is one of the most promising approaches for storing renewable electricity as chemical energy in fuels. SnO₂ is a good catalyst for CO₂-to-HCOOH or CO₂-to-CO conversion, with different crystal planes participating the catalytic process. Among them, (110) surface SnO₂ is very stable and easy to synthesisze. By changing the ratio of Sn: O for SnO₂(110), we have two typical SnO₂ thin films: fully oxidized (stoichiometric) and partially reduced. In this work, we are concerned with different metals (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Os, Ir, Pt, and Au)-doped SnO₂(110) with different activity and selectivity for CO₂RR. All these changes are manipulated by adjusting the ratio of Sn: O in (110) surface. The results show that stochiometric and reduced Cu/Ag doped SnO₂(110) have different selectivity for CO₂RR. More specifically, stochiometric Cu/Ag-doped SnO₂(110) tends to generate CO(g). Meanwhile, the reduced surface tends to generate HCOOH(g). Moreover, we also considered the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The catalysts SnO₂(110) doped by Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, and Pt have high activity for HER, and others are good catalysts for CO₂RR.     

Heteropolymetallic Architectures as Snapshots of Transmetallation Processes at Different Degrees of Transfer

Novel heteropolymetallic architectures have been built by integrating Pd, Au and Ag systems. The dinuclear [(CNC)(PPh₃)Pd-^G11M(PPh₃)](ClO₄) (^G11M=Au ( 3 ), Ag ( 4 ); CNC=2,6-diphenylpyridinate) and trinuclear [{(CNC)(PPh₃)Pd}₂^G11M](ClO₄) (^G11M=Au ( 6 ), Ag ( 5 )) complexes have been accessed or isolated. Structural and DFT characterization unveil striking interactions of one of the aryl groups of the CNC ligand(s) with the ^G11M center, suggesting these complexes constitute models of transmetallation processes. Further analyses allow to qualitatively order the degree of transfer, proving that Au promotes the highest one and also that Pd systems favor higher degrees than Pt. Consistently, Energy Decomposition Analysis calculations show that the interaction energies follow the order Pd−Au > Pt−Au > Pd−Ag > Pt−Ag. All these results offer potentially useful ideas for the design of bimetallic catalytic systems.     

Why is metallic Pt the best catalyst for methoxy decomposition?

The decomposition of methoxy on Cu(111), Ag(111), Au(111), Ni(111), Pt(111), Pd(111), and Rh(111) has been studied in detail by the density functional theory calculations. The calculated activation barriers were successfully correlated with the coupling matrix element V 2 ad and the d-band center (ε d ) for the group IB metals and group VIII metals, respectively. By comparison of the activation energy barriers of the methoxy decomposition on different metals, it was found that Pt is the best catalyst for methoxy decomposition. The possible reason why the metallic Pt is the best catalyst has been analyzed from both the energetic data and the electronic structure information, that is, methoxy decomposition on Pt(111) has the largest exothermic behavior due to the closest p-band center of the CH 3 O among all metals after the adsorption.     

Characterization of methoxy adsorption on some transition metals: a first principles density functional theory study

Based on the gradient-density functional theory, calculation results of methoxy adsorption on Au(111), Ag(111), Cu(111), Pt(111), Pd(111), Ni(111), Rh(111), and Fe(100) surfaces are presented, and a consistent picture for some key physical properties determining the reactivity of metals appears. These eight metals belong to two groups: either with filled d electrons (group IB) or with unfilled but more than half filled d electrons (group VIII). The calculated adsorption energies are quite in agreement with the experimental data as well as the previous theoretical calculation results. Importantly, using the analysis of B. Hammer and J. K. Norskov, Nature (London) 376, 232 (1995) and in Chemisorption and Reactivity on Supported Clusters and Thin Films, edited by R. M. Lambert and G. Pacchioni (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1997), pp. 285-351, the binding energies have selectively been linearly correlated to the d-band center and to the size of the metal d-band orbital overlapping with the adsorbate (coupling matrix element) for these two groups of metals. And by analyzing the nature of the adsorption bonding, the possible reason of this difference is suggested.     

Vinyl 2-hydroxyethyl sulfide polymers and their sorption properties with respect to transition metals

Vinyl 2-hydroxyethyl sulfide (VHES) homopolymer and the homopolymer and vinyl 2-hydroxyethyl sulfide-acryl amide copolymer cross-linked by bisacrylamide were prepared by radical polymerization. The sorption of Au(III), Ag(I), Pd(II), Pt(IV), Hg(II), Pb(II), Fe(III), Ni(II), Cu(II) on these polymers under the static conditions was studied in relation to the solution pH. The polymers are highly selective and efficient sorbents for Au(III), Ag(I) and Hg(II).     

Single-Atom Alloys for the Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Single-atom alloys (SAAs) consisting of isolated transition-metal atoms doped in the surface of coinage metal hosts exhibit unique catalytic properties, harnessing the high activity of the dopant metals with the selectivity of the coinage metal hosts. Here we use density functional theory (DFT) to study SAAs comprised of Ni, Pd, Pt, Co and Rh doped into Ag and Au hosts, as candidate electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel-cells. Our calculations reveal that the PdAu SAA exhibits a slightly lower theoretical overpotential, enhanced selectivity for 4-e⁻ ORR, and tolerance to CO-poisoning compared to Pt(111). While the number of active sites of PdAu SAA is lower than that of Pt(111), the aforementioned desirable properties could bring the overall catalytic performance thereof close to that of Pt/C, indicating that the PdAu SAA could be a viable material for electrocatalytic ORR in PEM fuel-cells.     

Synthesis and coordination chemistry of an alkyne functionalised bis(pyrazolyl)methane ligand

The alkyne functionalised bidentate N-donor ligand (2-propargyloxyphenyl)bis(pyrazolyl)methane was prepared in high yield from the reaction of (2-hydroxyphenyl)bis(pyrazolyl)methane with propargyl bromide in the presence of base. A series of transition-metal complexes including [MCl2] (M=Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, Pt), [M2](NO3)2 (M=Cu, Co, Ni, Zn), [Ag]NO3 and [Pd(dppe)](OTf)2 were prepared and characterised by spectroscopic techniques. In addition, ligand as well as the Co(II) and Zn(II) complexes [CoCl2]2, [ZnCl2] were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The organometallic gold(I) and platinum(II) acetylide complexes [Pz2CH(C6H(4)-2-OCH2C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CAuPPh3)] and trans-[{Pz2CHC6H(4)-2-OCH2C[triple bond, length as m-dash]C}2Pt(PPh3)2] were prepared from and [AuCl(PPh3)] and trans-[PtCl2(PPh3)2], respectively. Treatment of these complexes with [Pd(OTf)2(dppe)] or [Cu(MeCN)4]PF6 results in formation of the cationic, mixed-metal complexes, which were isolated (Pt/Pd, Au/Pt) or detected by electrospray mass spectrometry (Au/Cu, Pt/Cu).     

Theoretical Investigations of the Activation of CO_2 on the Transition Metal-doped Cu(100) and Cu(111) Surfaces

Periodic density functional theory calculations have been performed to investigate the chemisorption behavior of CO_2 molecule on a series of surface alloys that are built by dispersing individual middle-late transition metal(TM) atoms(TM = Fe, Co, Ni, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Os, Ir, Pt, Au) on the Cu(100) and Cu(111) surfaces. The most stable configurations of CO_2 chemisorbed on different TM/Cu surfaces are determined, and the results show that among the late transition metals, Co, Ru, and Os are potentially good dopants to enhance the chemisorption and activation of CO_2 on copper surfaces. To obtain a deep understanding of the adsorption property, the bonding characteristics of the adsorption bonds are carefully examined by the crystal orbital Hamilton population technique, which reveals that the TM atom primarily provides d orbitals with z-component, namely d_z~2, d_(xz), and d_(yz) orbitals to interact with the adsorbate.