Effects of Stone–Wales defect upon adsorption of formaldehyde on graphene sheet with or without Al dopant: A first principle study

The adsorption mechanisms of formaldehyde (H₂CO) on modified graphene, including aluminum doping, Stone–Wales (SW) defects, and a combination of these two, were investigated via density functional theory (DFT). It was found that the graphene with SW defect is more sensitive than that of perfect graphene for detecting H₂CO molecules. Compared with Al-doped graphene/H₂CO complex, the binding energy for Al-doped SW defect complex can be enhanced by the introduction of a SW defect. The large values of binding energy and net charge transfer for this complex indicate a strong chemisorption and a larger affinity with H₂CO for the modified graphene. Furthermore, the density of states (DOS) of the complex shows that the effect of defect–dopant combination on adsorption mechanisms is due to the orbital hybridization between the Al atom and its adjacent C atoms. In addition, it can be expected that adsorption of H₂CO on the surface of Al-doped SW defect may occur easily, and the Al-doped SW graphene is more suitable for H₂CO gas detection.     

Hydrogen adsorption and storage of Ca-decorated graphene with topological defects: A first-principles study

As a candidate for hydrogen storage medium, geometric stability and hydrogen capacity of Ca-decorated graphene with topological defects are investigated using the first-principle based on density functional theory (DFT), specifically for the experimentally realizable single carbon vacancy (SV), 585 double carbon vacancy (585 DCV) and 555–777 double carbon vacancy (555–777 DCV) defects. It is found that Ca atom can be stabilized on above defective graphenes since Ca׳s binding energy on vacancy defect is much larger than its cohesive energy. Up to six H₂ molecules can stably bind to a Ca atom on defective graphene with the average adsorption energies of 0.17–0.39 eV/H₂. The hybridization of the Ca-3d orbitals with H₂-σorbitals and the electrostatic interaction between the Ca cation and the induced H₂ dipole both contribute to the H₂ molecules binding. Double-side Ca-decorated graphene with 585 DCV and 555–777 DCV defects can theoretically reach a gravimetric capacity of 5.2 wt% hydrogen, indicating that Ca-decorated defective graphene can be used as a promising material for high density hydrogen storage.     

In search of the dark state of 5-methyl-2-hydroxypyrimidine using a numerical DFT/MRCI gradient

In a recent publication, Lobsiger et al. [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12, 5032 (2010)] presented infrared and electronic absorption spectra of supersonic jet-cooled 5-methyl-2-hydroxypyrimidine (5M2HP), the enol form of deoxythymine. In addition, they reported on the fast nonradiative decay of the S₁ population to a dark state. In the present paper, we have investigated the mechanism and rate constants of this nonradiative decay by means of quantum chemical multi-configuration methods. To this end, minima of the lowest excited singlet and triplet states as well as the minimum-energy crossing point of singlet and triplet potential energy hypersurfaces (PEHs) have been determined employing a numerical DFT/MRCI gradient where DFT/MRCI stands for a combination of density functional theory (DFT) and a semi-empirical multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach. Rate constants have been calculated in the Condon approximation using a time-dependent approach based on harmonic oscillator functions and electronic spin–orbit coupling matrix elements evaluated at the DFT/MRCI level. It is shown that the first excited triplet state possesses ³(n?→?π*) character in the gas phase. Fast intersystem crossing is mediated by the low-lying ³(π?→?π*) state whose PEH crosses both, the S₁ ¹(n?→?π*) and T₁ ³(n?→?π*) PEHs.     

Theoretical and experimental photophysical studies of the tris(4,4,4-trifluoro-1-(1-naphthyl)-1,3-butanedionate) (2,2′-bipiridyl)-europium(III)

The complexes tris(4,4,4-Trifluoro-1-(1-naphthyl)-1,3-butanedionate) (2,2′-bipiridyl) Ln(III), Ln(tan)₃bipy, where Ln(III)=Eu³⁺ and Gd³⁺ have been synthesized, characterized and their photophysical properties (absorption, excitation and luminescence spectra and emission quantum yield) investigated down to 4.2 K. The Eu(tan)₃bipy complex has its molecular structure experimentally determined using X-ray crystallography and theoretically using the SMLC/AM1 method as well as their electronic singlet and triplet states were calculated, using the INDO/S-CI method with a point charge model to represent the Eu³⁺ ion, where two values were adopted, +3.0e and +3.5e, to investigate the imperfect shielding of the 4f shells. The so calculated +3.5e model electronic absorption spectrum and low lying triplet state energies agreed very well with the experimental ones. The emission quantum yield of the Eu³⁺ complex is quite low at room temperature, namely 7%, probably due to the too low lying triplet state, 19,050 cm^-1, and increases by a factor of three when the temperature is lowered to 4.2 K. This strong thermal effect indicates the presence of a channel deactivating the main emitting state, what can be due to a LMCT state possibly lying in the same spectral region, as usually found in Eu³⁺ compounds.     

A first-principles theoretical simulation on the electronic structures and optical absorption properties for O vacancy and Ni impurity in TiO2 photocatalysts

The band structures and optical absorption spectra of O vacancy and Ni ion doped anatase TiO₂ were successfully calculated and simulated by a plane wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory (DFT). From the calculated results, a phenomenon of “impurity compensation” was found: the lower formation energy for O vacancy than Ni impurity indicated that introducing the intrinsic defect of O vacancy into Ni ion doped TiO₂ sample was very possible; the positive binding energy for the combination of O vacancy and Ni impurity indicated that two defects were apt to bind to each other; While Ni impurity produced the donor levels in the forbidden band of TiO₂, Ni impurity with O vacancy produced the acceptor levels upon which the excitation led to the photogenerated electrons with high energy and transferability. The combination of absorption spectra for O vacancy and Ni impurity with O vacancy models could reproduce the experimental measurement very well.     

Diffusion of Li ion on graphene: A DFT study

Density functional theory investigations show that the Li⁺ ion is stabilized at the center of hexagonal carbon ring with the distance of 1.84 Å from graphene surface. The potential barrier of Li⁺ ion diffusion on the graphene surface, about 0.32 eV, is much lower than that of Li⁺ ion penetrating the carbon ring which is 10.68 eV. When a vacancy of graphene exists, potential barrier about 10.25 eV for Li⁺ ion penetrating the defect is still high, and the ability of the vacancy to sizing the Li⁺ ion is also observed. Electronic densities of states show that the formation of a localized bond between Li atom and edge carbon of vacancy is the main reason for high potential barrier when Li⁺ ion penetrate a vacancy. While Coulomb repulsion is the control factor for high potential barrier in case of Li⁺ ion penetrating a carbon ring.     

Electronic properties of anatase TiO2 doped by lanthanides: A DFT+U study

The effects of mono-doping of 4f lanthanides with and without oxygen vacancy defect on the electronic structures of anatase TiO₂ have been studied by first-principles calculations with DFT+U (DFT with Hubbard U correction) to treat the strong correlation of Ti 3d electrons and lanthanides 4f electrons. Our results revealed that dopant Ce is easy to incorporate into the TiO₂ host by substituting Ti due to its lower substitutional energy (∼−2.0 eV), but the band gap of the system almost keeps intact after doping. The Ce 4f states are located at the bottom of conduction band, which mainly originates from Ti 3d states. The magnetic moment of doped Ce disappears due to electron transfer from Ce to the nearest O atoms. For Pr and Gd doping, their substitutional energies are similar and close to zero, indicating that both of them may also incorporate into the TiO₂ host. For Pr doping, some 4f spin-down states are located next to the bottom of the conduction band and narrow the band gap of the doping system. However, for Gd doping, the 4f states are located in deep valence band and there is no intermediate band in the band gap. The magnetic moment of dopant Gd is close to the value of isolated Gd atom (∼7 μB), indicating no overlapping between Gd 4f with other orbitals. For Eu, it is hard to incorporate into the TiO₂ host due to its very higher substitutional energy. The results also indicated that oxygen vacancy defect may enhance the adsorption of the visible light in Ln-doped TiO₂ system.     

Reaching for [6]n SiC‐cyclacenes and [6]n SiC‐acenes: A DFT approach

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations introduced triplet ground states for [6]_n SiC‐cyclacenes and ‐acenes with alternate silabenzene rings including silicon atoms in 2 opposite edges (n = 6, 8, 10, 12). The singlet‐triplet energy gap (ΔE_(S‐T)), binding energy per atom (BE/n), and NBO calculation with very small band gap (ΔE_LUMO‐HOMO) confirmed the triplet ground states. In contrast to polyacenes, the singlet [6]_n SiC‐cyclacenes displayed more stability improvement than triplets, through n increasing. This may open the way for synthesis of larger stable [6]_n SiC‐cyclacenes. The ΔE_(S‐T), BE/n, and the strain energy through homodesmic equations indicated more stability for larger [6]_n SiC‐cyclacenes, which was more noticeable in singlet states. Cyclacenes and acenes with high conductivity and full point charge were introduced as suitable candidates for hydrogen storage.     

Statics and dynamics of excited states of oxygen-deficient centers in SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The parameters of excited states of oxygen-deficient centers (ODCs) in high-energy-electron irradiated crystalline and glassy SiO₂ have been studied using optical absorption, luminescence, and photoelectron emission spectroscopy. Additional evidence has been gained in support of the model of a neutral oxygen vacancy in ODCs, the diagram of electronic transitions has been refined, and their characteristics have been quantified. The possibility of ionization of the singlet and triplet defect states at a transition to the anomalously relaxed configuration has been demonstrated using the particular example of α-ODCs. Nonradiative excitation transfer from nonbridging oxygen centers to the triplet ODC state has been observed.     

Excitation of phosphorescence of pyrene implanted into a photoconductive polymer

Methods of populating the lowest excited triplet state T ₁ of pyrene implanted into polystyrene (PS) or photoconductive polymer materials polymethylphenylsilane (PMPS), poly-N-epoxypropylcarbazole (PEPC), and poly-N-vinylcarbazole (PVK) are studied. Photoluminescence was excited in the first electron transition band of pyrene and the above photoconductive polymers. It is found that, at concentrations of 0.05–0.50 mol l^?1, pyrene is effective in quenching the fluorescence of PMPS, PEPC, and PVK but has only a slight effect on the photoemission efficiency of geminate electron-hole pairs. As a result, the phosphorescence of pyrene in photoconductive polymers is excited both by the intersystem crossing from the first excited singlet state (S ₁ ? T ₁) and by the capture of triplet excitons created in the recombination of charge pairs. In addition, in PEPC and PVK, the phosphorescence of pyrene is excited by recombination of a captured hole with an electron. For this reason, the ratio of the quantum yields of phosphorescence and fluorescence of pyrene in photoconductive polymers is much larger than that in PS, wherein the T ₁ state of pyrene is populated by intersystem crossing S ₁ ? T ₁ only.     

FS and FS(OH) defect centers at the MgO(1 0 0) surface: cluster and periodic calculations

We present a model of a new paramagnetic defect center which results from the interaction of atomic hydrogen with the MgO(1 0 0) surface. DFT calculations have been performed using periodic supercells and embedded cluster models where long-range polarization effects are included explicitly. The H atom promotes the creation of an oxygen vacancy (F center) by formation of the F_S⁺(OH⁻) defect where an hydroxyl group is adsorbed near an electron trapped in an oxygen vacancy. This new center has some characteristics similar to those of the classical F_S⁺ centers but a smaller formation energy; furthermore, being globally neutral, it can be treated also with supercell methods.     

Study on the defect of sulfur substituting for phosphorus in potassium dihydrogen phosphate

The electronic structure and geometric distribution of neutral and charge states of the point defect sulfur substituting for phosphorus (S_p) in potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH₂PO₄) have been investigated using a first-principles method. The energy gap is lowered to about 2.2 eV and 6.5 eV from the Density Function Theory (DFT) value of 7.3 eV by a -2 charge and neutral state, respectively. However, no defect states appear in the energy gap for the +1, -1, and +2 charge states of the S_p defect. The results show that the defects S_p with neutral and -2 charge states might contribute to the transient optical absorption under the high energy laser irradiation.     

Symmetry enforced gauge invariance of nuclear magnetic shielding constants

E.S.R. experiments performed at 1·3 K by optical detection are reported for the photo-excited triplet state of palladiumporphin in a single crystal of n-octane, and the observation of a level anticrossing signal is described.

In the crystal the orbital degeneracy of the ³ E _u state of the free molecule is lifted by the crystal field and in n-octane the energy difference between the two orbital components |x> and |y> is found to be 58 ± 2 cm^-1. The spinorbit coupling (SOC) and the orbital Zeeman interaction couple the triplet manifolds of |x> and |y>, and for a proper understanding of the magnetic properties of these states it is necessary to work in the basis of the six spin-orbit functions deriving from the ³ E _u state of the free molecule. It is shown that either of the two triplet states can be described by an effective spin hamiltonian of the common form and expressions for the zero-field parameters D and E and the principal values of the g tensor are given. The experimental values of the parameters in the lowest triplet state are D = -24·38 ± 0·03 GHz, |E| = 320 ± 60 MHz, g _‖ = 1·677 ± 0·001 and g _⊥ = 1·989 ± 0·002. The matrix element of the SOC connecting the |x> and |y> triplet manifolds amounts to qZ = 15 ± 3 cm^-1 and the vibronic orbital angular momentum (in units of ?) in the ³ E _u state of the free molecule to qΛ = 1·5 ± 0·3. A tentative value of 0·63 for the orbital reduction factor q is obtained by comparison with a theoretical estimate of Λ. The value of q is indicative of weak Jahn-Teller coupling.     

Calculation of the elastic scattering properties for cold and ultracold 39K atoms in a triplet state

The elastic scattering properties for collisions between cold and ultracold 39K atoms in a triplet state are investigated. Based on the recent theoretical and experimental results, the improved hybrid potential is presented for a triplet α3∑u^＋ ground state of K2. Our calculated value of the s-wave scattering length a by using the Numerov method for the triplet state is 79.578α0 and found to be in good agreement with the previous ones. The numbers of bound states are supported by the molecular potential. Pronounced shape resonances appear for the l = 3 partial waves for the α3∑u^＋ state. Furthermore, the s-wave scattering cross section, the total cross section and energy positions of shape resonances for the α3∑u^＋ state are calculated.     

Excitation of lowest electronic states of thymine by slow electrons

Excitation of lowest electronic states of the thymine molecules in the gas phase is studied by elec- tron energy loss spectroscopy. In addition to dipole-allowed transitions to singlet states, transitions to the lowest triplet states were observed. The low-energy features of the spectrum at 3.66 and 4.61 eV are identified with the excitation of the first triplet states 1₃ A′ (π → π*) and 1₃ A″ (n → π*). The higher-lying features at 4.96, 5.75, 6.17, and 7.35 eV are assigned mainly to the excitation of the π → π* transitions to the singlet states of the molecule. The excitation dynamics of the lowest states is studied. It is found that the first triplet state 1³ A′(π → π*) is most efficiently excited at a residual energy close to zero, while the singlet 2₁ A′(π → π*) state is excited with almost identical efficiency at different residual energies.     

Quenching of the triplet state of Pd-porphyrins by Cu-etioporphyrin in dimethyl formamide

Quenching of phosphorescence of Pd-tetrabenzoporphyrin (Pd-TBP) and Pd-etioporphyrin I (Pd-EP) by the Cu-EP molecules was studied using pulsed photoexcitation. The rate constant of quenching (K _q) by the Cu-EP molecules was found to be 2.3×10⁹ 1/(mol s) for the low lying triplet state (TS) of Pd-Ep and 5.8×10⁸ 1/(mol s) for the TS of Pd-TBP. It is concluded that the quenching was caused by the intermolecular energy transfer, and the low value of K _q for Pd-TBP can be explained by the fact that the level of Cu-EP (X), to which the energy is transferred, lies above the TS of Pd-TBP (E _T=12 900 cm^?1). Based on the results obtained and the published data, it is assumed that the energy transfer proceeds via the formation of long-lived excited complexes of interacting molecules. With the K _q value for Pd-TBP and the results of kinetic analysis of the adopted quenching mechanism, the difference between the energy of states, involved in energy transfer, and the X state energy are determined (E _X=13 520 cm^?1 and E _T=14 500 cm^?1 for Cu-EP). Some specific features of photophysical and luminescence properties of Cu-porphyrins are explained by the presence of such a state related to the excitation of the copper ion.     

ESR Detection of Triplet States in Rare Earth Chelates

Abstract

Energy transfer from ligand molecule to ion in rare earth chelates has been assumed to involve a molecular triplet state. ^1,2 These triplet states manifest themselves optically as long-lived T_{π, π? →S}π,π emission if the lowest resonance level of the ion is of higher energy than the molecular triplet. ³ If the resonance level lies below the triplet, longlived emission is absent or severely reduced in intensity. ^4,5     

A theoretical analysis of the excited states in 2-benzoylthiophene

The lower excited states of 2-benzoylthiophene have been studied using ab initio quantum chemical methods based on multiconfigurational wave functions. Six singlet and six triplet excited states have been characterized. The geometry has been optimized for the two lowest triplet states, which are responsible for the photoreactivity of the chromophore in the photosensitizing drug tiaprofenic acid. The T¹(π → π?) and T₂(n → π?) states have been found to be close in energy with the π → π? state slightly lower. The excited states have been characterized using density difference and spin density plots. The different photochemical behaviour of the two triplet states can be rationalized from the theoretical data.     

First principles study of the magnetism driven by cation defects in CeO2: the important role of O2p states

The magnetism driven by cation defects in undoped CeO2 bulk and thin films is studied by the density functional theory corrected for on-site Coulomb interactions （DFT＋U） with U = 5 eV for the Ce4f states and U = 7 eV for the O2p states. It is found that the Ce vacancies can induce a magnetic moment of the -4 gB/supercell, which arises mainly from the 2p hole state of the nearest neighbouring O atom （-1μB on per oxygen） to the Ce vacancy. The effect of the methodology is investigated, indicating that U = 7 eV for the O2p state is necessary to obtain the localized O2p hole state in defective ceria with cation vacancies.     

The neutral vacancy in silicon and diamond: Generalized valence bond studies

Self-consistent ab initio generalized valence bond and configuration interaction calculations are presented for molecular cluster models of the electronic states of the neutral vacancy in diamond and silicon. In each case the ground state of the vacancy is found to be ¹E (T_d designation) with the ³T₁ and ⁵A₂ states slightly higher (0.18 eV and 0.60 eV for Si and 0.33 eV and 1.2 eV for C). The first excited singlest state is ¹T₂ in each case. The ¹E-¹T₂ excitation energy is foundto be 1.7 ± 0.7 eV for diamond and 1.3 ± 0.5 eV in silicon, the range being due to uncertainty in the model used for estimating the polarization effects due to the remainder of the infinite crystal.