Evolution of small copper clusters and dissociative chemisorption of hydrogen

The structural evolution of small copper clusters of up to 15 atoms and the dissociative chemisorption of H2 on the minimum energy clusters are studied systematically using density functional theory. The preferred copper sites for chemisorption are identified and the transition state structures and activation barriers for clusters four to nine atoms are determined and found to be inconsistent with the empirical Bronsted-Evans-Polanyi relationship. The physicochemical properties of the clusters are computed and compared with the bulk and surface values. The results indicate that a phase transition must occur in the going from cluster to bulk.     

Chemisorption of hydrogen by carbon nanotubes

Chemisorption of hydrogen by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is studied by thermodynamics and kinetics methods. Expressions are derived for the adsorption isotherm and desorption kinetics. Methods for determining chemisorption parameters are developed. The partial free energy of binding of hydrogen with a CNT (3.6 eV) is determined. It is shown that residual products of synthesis are removed from CNTs as a result of prolonged annealing at high temperatures. The capacity of a CNT relative to chemisorbed hydrogen is esti mated at 4 mass %.     

Effect of hydrogen adsorption on the x-ray absorption spectra of small Pt clusters

Hydrogen adsorption on Pt(6)H(n) clusters leads to striking changes in the Pt L(2,3) x-ray absorption spectra. These effects are interpreted using a self-consistent real space Green's function approach. Calculations show that they are due largely to changes in the atomic background contribution to x-ray absorption (i.e., atomic x-ray absorption fine structure) and to reduced Pt-Pt scattering at the edge, while Pt-H multiple scattering is relatively weak. The origin of both effects is traced to the change in the local Pt potential due to Pt-H bonding.     

Chemisorption phenomena: Analytic modeling based on perturbation theory and bond-order conservation

Tremendous advances in experimental studies of chemisorption revealed that many phenomena could not be understood and projected by the current theoretical constructs. We discuss some of the experimental puzzles that prompted a development of new analytic approaches to chemisorption based on general principles such as perturbation theory (PT) and bond-order conservation (BOC). The PT results concern the periodic regularities of the heat of chemisorption, the role of the antibonding adsorbate orbitals, and universal patterns of adsorbate-induced surface polarization Some of the PT findings are further corroborated within a much broader BOC approach. The BOC model and its postulates (including the use of a Morse potential) and diverse projections are thoroughly discussed. For atomic A and diatomic AB adsorbates, it is shown how the BOC model explicitly and rigorously interrelates a variety of seemingly disparate phenomena such as preferred adsorbate sites, the activation barriers for surface migration and dissociation, relations between atomic Q_A (Q_B) and molecular Q_AB heats of chemisorption, coverage and coadsorption effects on Q_A, overlayer phase transitions and island formation, the nature of promotion and poisoning. The model also projects possible intermediates and elementary steps of surface reactions. Although some of the findings are counter to commonly held perceptions, the whole picture of chemisorption is coherent and fits experiment well. The new conceptual understanding is stressed and some comments on the theory of chemisorption are made.     

Chemisorption of atomic hydrogen in graphite and carbon nanotubes

An orthogonal tight-binding model of the carbon-hydrogen interaction was modified to deal with the different hybridization states of atomic hydrogen on carbon surfaces, without explicitly including charge self-consistency. The resulting model has great flexibility and computational efficiency, generally with a good quantitative accuracy. The non-self-consistent C-H model was tested by calculating structural properties of small hydrocarbons and simple polymers, and against ab initio results of H binding to both perfect and defective graphite. The model was employed to study the chemisorption properties and dynamics of atomic hydrogen on perfect and defective surfaces of graphite and carbon nanotubes.     

Chemisorption of hydrogen sulphide on zinc oxide modified aluminum-substituted SBA-15

Aluminum silicate mesoporous material, ZnO/Al-SBA-15, was synthesized by post-synthesis and immobilization method via microwave-assisted route. Desulphurization tests from a gas mixture with low content H₂S were carried out as the probing reaction on these materials. Chemical effects and the nature of the ZnO additive and textural properties on desulphurization capacity were studied over this material. Material was characterized using N₂ adsorption, XRD, TEM, FTIR, XPS, ICP and other techniques. The analysis suggests that the as-synthesized material had well-ordered hexagonal mesopores and was abundant in micropores. ZnO nanoparticles dispersed well and anchored both in the channel and the wall of mesoporous silica. The material with 2.1 wt.% zinc loading presented the highest H₂S uptake capacity. Both micropores and mesopores are active sites for H₂S capture, especially micropores. The enhancement of H₂S removal capacity was attributed to the integration of the pore structure of mesoporous material and the promising desulphurization properties of ZnO nanoparticles. ZnO/Al-SBA-15 could be an effective alternative to remove H₂S from gaseous streams and it also extends the research of mesoporous material.     

密度泛函理论的不同方法研究小钨团簇的结构与稳定性

分别利用密度泛函理论的LSDA方法 和B3LYP 方法在有效核势基组(LanL2DZ)水平上系统地研究了Wn(n=2―14)团簇的结构和稳定性. Wn(n=2―14)团簇全局能量最小的最稳定结构被确定. 结果表明：在所讨论的尺寸范围内,LSDA方法比B3LYP 方法得到的平均结合能与一阶能量差分高;大部分Wn团簇在两种方法计算下具有相同的几何结构. 两种方法计算结果均表明：除了W3自旋多重度为3重态外,其余尺寸团簇的自旋多重度均为单重态; n=7的最低能量结构为双戴帽五边环,而非正十面体,n=8—10为笼型结构,n=11—14为扁长型结构. 综合平均结合能、一阶能量差分和二阶能量差分,两种计算方法均表明Wn(n=2―14)团簇具有相同的幻数序列(2, 6, 9 和 13).     

密度泛函理论的不同方法研究小钨团簇的结构与稳定性

分别利用密度泛函理论的LSDA方法和B3LYP 方法在有效核势基组(LanL2DZ)水平上系统地研究了Wn(n=2-14)团簇的结构和稳定性.Wn(n=2-14)团簇全局能量最小的最稳定结构被确定.结果表明:在所讨论的尺寸范围内,LSDA方法比B3LYP 方法得到的平均结合能与一阶能量差分高;大部分Wn(n=2-14) 团簇在两种方法计算下具有相同的几何结构.两种方法计算结果均表明:除了W3自旋多重度为3重态外,其余尺寸团簇的自旋多重度均为单重态;n=7的最低能量结构为双戴帽五边环,而非正十面体,n=8-10为笼型结构,n=11-14为扁长型结构.综合平均结合能、一阶能量差分和二阶能量差分,两种计算方法均表明Wn(n=2-14)团簇具有相同的幻数序列(2,6,9 和 13).     

Comments on small superconducting clusters

The feasibility of an experimental study of small superconducting clusters (SC) is analyzed. Critical sizes for SC are calculated. Oscillations of the energy gap and the diamagnetic susceptibility of SC are considered.     

Geometries, stabilities and electronic properties of small Nb-doped gallium clusters: A density functional theory study

The host Ga_n+1 and doped Ga_nNb (n=1-9) clusters with several spin configurations have been systematically investigated by a relativistic density functional theory (DFT) with the generalized gradient approximation. The optimized equilibrium geometries tend to prefer the close-packed configurations for small Nb-doped gallium clusters up to n=9. The average binding energies per atom (E_b/atom), second-order differences of total energies (Δ₂E), fragmentation energies (E_f) and HOMO-LUMO gaps of Ga_n+1 and Ga_nNb (n=1-9) clusters are studied. The results indicate the doping of Nb atom in gallium clusters improves the chemical activities. In particular, the clusters with sizes of Ga₄Nb and Ga₇Nb are found to be more stable with respect to their respective neighbors. Our calculated vertical ionization potentials (VIPs) exhibit an obvious oscillating behavior with the cluster size increasing, except for Ga₃ and Ga₄Nb, suggesting the Ga₃, Ga₅, Ga₇, GaNb, Ga₃Nb, Ga₆Nb and Ga₈Nb clusters corresponding to the high VIPs. In the case of vertical electron affinities (VEAs) and chemical hardness η, VEAs are slightly increasing whereas chemical hardness η decreasing as Ga_nNb cluster size increases. Besides, the doping of Nb atom also brings the decrease as the cluster sizes increases for atomic spin magnetic moments (μ_b).     

Interaction of hydrogen with indiumvacancy clusters in tungsten

Hydrogen trapping at specific¹¹¹In-vacancy complexes in tungsten was studied by means of perturbed angular correlations. The hydrogen was either implanted into the sample or diffused from the gas. We observed desorption of the trapped hydrogen in the temperature range 450–550 K.     

A cold pulsed source of hydrogen and hydrogen clusters: development and extreme-ultraviolet studies

We describe the development and application of a differentially pumped pulsed cold H₂ and (H₂)₂ beam source. The nozzle was cooled with liquid nitrogen and, actuated by a piezoelectric valve with pressures up to 5 bar, produced gas pulses 250 μs long. Strong limitations by collisions with the fast hydrogen molecules returning from the walls of the source chamber could be overcome by surrounding the volume around nozzle and skimmer with cold surfaces. As a consequence, the beam intensities for both the monomer and the clusters could be greatly enhanced. The valve was operated without any realignment for more than one year. The beam source was characterized by a number of photo-ionization studies. As a part of these efforts the presumably first laser-based single-photon ionization spectra of H₂ and (H₂)₂ were obtained. We estimate that more than ten $\mathrm{H}_{3}^{+}$ ions could be detected per laser shot at a wavelength of 74.2 nm and a pressure of 5 bar. The auto-ionization lines of H₂ were recorded with a resolution of about 0.54 cm^?1. A line width of about 629 MHz was obtained in the B←X band system of hydrogen observed by resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization. Further potential improvements of the experiment are discussed.     

Photo-absorption spectra of small hydrogenated silicon clusters using the time-dependent density functional theory

We present a systematic study of the photo-absorption spectra of various Si_nH_m clusters using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The method uses a real-time, real-space implementation of TDDFT involving full propagation of the time dependent Kohn-Sham equations. Our results for SiH₄ and Si₂H₆ show good agreement with the earlier calculations and experimental data. We study the photo-absorption spectra of silicon clusters as a function of hydrogenation. For single hydrogenation, we find that in general, the absorption optical gap decreases showing a significant red shift for small sized clusters and as the number of silicon atoms increases the effect of a single hydrogen atom on the optical gap diminishes. For further hydrogenation the optical gap increases and for the fully hydrogenated clusters the optical gap is larger compared to corresponding pure silicon clusters corresponding to a blue shifted spectra.     

Stability of small Ni-Ti bimetallic clusters studied by density functional theory

The low-energy structures and the electronic and the magnetic properties of small NiNiNi$_{m}$Ti$_{n}$ clusters, lowest-energy structure, electronic and magnetic propertiesProject supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.~10874039), and the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province of China (Grant Nos.~A2009000246 and 2009000243).3120A, 3640B, 2110K7/3/2009 12:00:00 AMThe low-energy structures and the electronic and the magnetic properties of small NiNiNi$_{m}$Ti$_{n}$ clusters, lowest-energy structure, electronic and magnetic propertiesProject supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.~10874039), and the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province of China (Grant Nos.~A2009000246 and 2009000243).3120A, 3640B, 2110K7/3/2009 12:00:00 AMThe low-energy structures and the electronic and the magnetic properties of small Ni$_{n}$Ti$_{n}$ ($n=1$--$6$) and Ni$_{m}$Ti$_{n}$ ($1 \le n \le 4$, $1 \le m \le 4$, $n \ne m$) clusters are investigated by performing all-electron calculations based on density functional theory. Ground states and several isomers near the ground states are determined for these clusters. The results indicate that the growth of small Ni$_{m}$Ti$_{n}$ clusters prefers to form rich Ti--Ni and Ti--Ti bonds. When the percentage of titanium atoms is significantly greater than that of nickel atoms, the nickel atoms are most frequently found above the surface; in contrast, the titanium atoms prefer the bridging sites. A M\"{u}lliken spin population analysis indicates that the total spin of titanium-nickel clusters is not always zero.http://cpb.iphy.ac.cn/CN/10.1088/1674-1056/19/4/043102https://cpb.iphy.ac.cn/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=111644NimTin;clusters;lowest-energy;structure;electronic;and;magnetic;propertiesThe low-energy structures and the electronic and the magnetic properties of small Nin Tin(n = 1-6) and Ni m Ti n(1 ≤ n ≤ 4,1 ≤ m ≤ 4,n ≠ m) clusters are investigated by performing all-electron calculations based on density functional theory.Ground states and several isomers near the ground states are determined for these clusters.The results indicate that the growth of small Ni m Ti n clusters prefers to form rich Ti-Ni and Ti-Ti bonds.When the percentage of titanium atoms is significantly greater than that of nickel atoms,the nickel atoms are most frequently found above the surface;in contrast,the titanium atoms prefer the bridging sites.A Mu¨lliken spin population analysis indicates that the total spin of titanium-nickel clusters is not always zero.     

Formation and photodecomposition of cationic titanium oxide clusters

In this paper we report on the titanium oxide cluster cations Ti _x O _y ⁺, generated by laser ablation of a titanium target in the region of the nozzle expansion of oxygen. The mass distribution of the clusters produced is recorded with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Three different series, namely TiO(TiO₂) _n ⁺ , TiO(TiO₂) _n O₂⁺, and (TiO₂) _n ⁺, appear in the spectra. Two different ablation wavelengths (infrared at 1064 nm and ultraviolet at 308 nm) are used to generate the titanium oxide clusters. At the shorter wavelength the maximum size of the clusters formed decreases. The interaction of the UV photons with the Ti _x O _y ⁺ clusters is further investigated in a separate two-laser arrangement with an IR laser for ablation and after some mm downstream with an UV system for the cluster beam irradiation. These studies indicate that the intensity of the T _x O _y ⁺ clusters with x≥4, y≥7 is strongly influenced by the absorption of UV photons. This is attributed mainly to dissociation into smaller ones.     

Theoretical study of small Mo clusters and molecular nitrogen adsorption on Mo clusters

This paper studies the small molybdenum clusters of Mo_n (n=2--8) and their adsorption of N₂ molecule by using the density functional theory (DFT) with the generalized gradient approximation. The optimized structures of Mo_n clusters show the onset of a structural transition from a close-packed structure towards a body-centred cubic structure occurred at n=7. An analysis of adsorption energies suggests that the Mo₂ is of high inertness and Mo₆ cluster is of high activity against the adsorption of N₂. Calculated results indicate that the N₂ molecule prefers end-on mode by forming a linear or quasi-linear structure Mo--N--N, and the adsorption of nitrogen on molybdenum clusters is molecular adsorption with slightly elongated N--N bond. The electron density of highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, and the partial density of states of representative cluster are also used to characterize the adsorption properties of N₂ on the sized Mo_n clusters.