Ionic-charge dependence of the intermolecular coulombic decay time scale for aqueous ions probed by the core-hole clock

Auger electron spectroscopy combined with theoretical calculations has been applied to investigate the decay of the Ca 2p core hole of aqueous Ca(2+). Beyond the localized two-hole final states on the calcium ion, originating from a normal Auger process, we have further identified the final states delocalized between the calcium ion and its water surroundings and produced by core level intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) processes. By applying the core-hole clock method, the time scale of the core level ICD was determined to be 33 ± 1 fs for the 2p core hole of the aqueous Ca(2+). The comparison of this time constant to those associated with the aqueous K(+), Na(+), Mg(2+), and Al(3+) ions reveals differences of 1 and up to 2 orders of magnitude. Such large variations in the characteristic time scales of the core level ICD processes is qualitatively explained by different internal decay mechanisms in different ions as well as by different ion-solvent distances and interactions.     

Strategy for an evaluation of core excitation energies in complex molecules: application to SF6

Modelling of single core-hole states is proposed, which consists of adding an external charge exerting on the remaining electrons to an outer repulsion globally equivalent to the inner attraction resulting from the partial unscreening of the nucleus. For a given complex molecule and an ionized core level, this outer equivalent charge (oech), which may be fractional, can be computed by comparing results from exact core-hole calculations and from applying Koopmans' theorem to valence-ion results for a related simpler molecule. For double core-hole states, the total relaxation energy is computed by adding to the single relaxation energies an induced relaxation energy approximated by the geometric average of the former. This model helps to assign two satellites in the photoelectron spectrum of SF₆ to singlet and triplet double core-hole states.     

苯的XPS Shake-up谱的理论研究——对称和非对称的CNDO/S-CI计算

用不同方法对苯的XPS Shake-up谱进行了CNDO/S—CI计算,一种是用对称化(D_(6h))的基函数进行实芯隙(core—hole)离域模型的非等价核近似的计算,一种是在等价核近似下用实芯隙定域模型的约化对称(C_(2v))和非对称化进行计算。所有计算只考虑单电子激发的组态。在这些条件下,离域模型的结果要比定域模型的好。     

Core localization and sigma* delocalization in the O 1s core-excited sulfur dioxide molecule

Electron-ion-ion coincidence measurements of sulfur dioxide at discrete resonances near the O 1s ionization edge are reported. The spectra are analyzed using a model based upon molecular symmetry and on the geometry of the molecule. We find clear evidence for molecular alignment that can be ascribed to symmetry properties of the ground and core-excited states. Configuration interaction (CI) calculations indicate geometry changes in accord with the measured spectra. For the SO(2) molecule, however, we find that the localized core hole does not produce measurable evidence for valence localization, since the transition dipole moment is not parallel to a breaking sigma* O-S bond, in contrast to the case of ozone. The dissociation behavior based upon the CI calculations using symmetry-broken orbitals while fixing a localized core-hole site is found to be nearly equivalent to that using symmetry-adapted orbitals. This implies that the core-localization effect is not strong enough to localize the sigma* valence orbital.     

A density functional theory study of shake-up satellites in photoemission of carbon fullerenes and nanotubes

Carbon 1s shake-up spectra of fullerenes C(60), C(70), and C(82) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) of (5,5), (6,5), and (7,6) have been investigated by using equivalent core hole Kohn-Sham density functional theory approach, in which only one-electron transition between molecular orbitals within core-hole potential is considered. The calculated spectra are generally in good agreement with results of equivalent core-hole time-dependent density functional theory calculations and available experiments, and reliable assignments for the complicated shake-up spectra of such large systems are provided. Calculations have also been performed for endohedral metallofullerene Gd@C(82) to demonstrate the possible use of shake-up processes to identify the charge transfer between the metal ion and the carbon cage. It is found that the exciton binding energy of all systems under investigation is around 0.5 eV.     

Solid state effects on core-hole spectra

Selective orbital coupling between levels of the ion and adjacent “neutral” molecules are shown to rationalize the spectral changes in the N 1s and O 1s XPS core-hole signals of p-nitroaniline on going from the vapor to condensed phase.     

A molecular orbital explanation of bond distance variation caused by hydrogen bond formation

For hydrogen bond systems X–D–HA–Y, a simple molecular orbital model is proposed to understand the mechanism of the bond distance variations caused by the hydrogen bond formation. This model explains the bond distance variations for X–D and A–Y as follows. Electrostatic potential that the electrons in a molecule receive from other molecules causes the changes in atomic orbital energy differences between the bonded atoms. Then, the changes in the orbital energy differences make the bond orders larger or smaller and consequently the bond distances vary. The validity of this model has been confirmed by the effective fragment potential method, using the test systems of (HCOOH)₂, HCONH₂ (formamide) crystal and BF₃·2H₂O crystal.     

Computational investigation of the suitability of heterocyclic aromatic compounds with two heteroatoms in the 1 and 3 ring positions as dienes for the diels alder reaction

Semiempirical and density functional theory computational studies were carried out with the target determining the reactivity of five membered heterocycles with heteroatoms in the 1 and 3 positions as dienes for Diels-Alder reactions. The relative reactivity was evaluated in their reaction with acetylene, ethylene, and cyclopropene as dienophiles for cycloaddition. Qualitative criteria such as uniformity of heterocycle bond orders, change of bond orders and frontier molecular orbital energies in transformation of reactants into transition state structures were used to determine the relative reactivity in comparison with furan. These results are compared with the computed activation barriers as well as with experimental findings, where available. If cycloaddition is feasible with these heterocycles, a new synthetic transformation of simple organic compounds to valuable prostaglandin derivatives can be accomplished.     

N-K near-edge x-ray-absorption fine structures of acetonitrile in gas phase

The dynamic processes of N(1s) core-hole excitation in gas-phase CH3CN molecule have been studied at both Hartree-Fock and hybrid density-functional theory levels. The vibrational structure is analyzed for fully optimized core-excited states. Frank-Condon factors are obtained using the linear coupling model for various potential surfaces. It is found that the vibrational profile of the N-K absorption can be largely described by a summation of two vibrational progressions: a structure-rich profile of nu(CN) stretching mode and a large envelope of congestioned vibrational levels related to the strong (-C-CN) terminal bending bond. Excellent agreement between theoretical and experimental spectra is obtained.     

Core ionization of nitrosobenzene-dimer compounds: phenazon-di-N-oxide

The C 1s, N 1s and O 1s XPS spectra of soli d phenazon-di-N-oxide (PADNO) are presented in order to further elucidate the effects of intermolecular interactions in molecular solids on the dynamics of the core-ionization process. PADNO can be considered a model compound for an intramolecular cis nitrosobenzene dimer. The observed strong N 1s and O 1s shake-up intensity attenuations in going from the nitrosobenzene monomer to PADNO are discussed in detail based on the results of CNDO/S CI equivalent core calculations. The theoretical core-hole spectral functions are in excellent agreement with experiment. It is shown that the calculated shake-up intensities are strongly on electron correlation.     

Conductivity in polyacetylene. II. Ab initio and tight-binding calculations of soliton structure and reorganization energy in ordered and disordered structures

Alkali-doped polyacetylene is considered as an electron-transfer system. To estimate the reorganization energy due to bond-length changes when electrons are added or subtracted, we applied the (U)MP2 and CASSCF methods to small systems of the type H(CH)_NH. The simple tight-binding (Hückel) model with bond-length-dependent resonance integrals has been applied to the same and larger polyenes. The bond lengths are obtained via the bond orders for the various oxidation states. The results agree very well with the ab initio results and experiments for small polyenes. Odd-N and even-N systems behave differently. In odd-N systems, a structural “soliton” exists in the neutral molecule. An electron can be added or removed without bond-length change. In even-N chains, with perfect bond alternation in the neutral molecule, the bond length changes when an electron is accepted occur over about 20 carbon atoms. The reorganization energy tends to a constant value (0.22 eV) as the chain length is increased. Soliton structure is studied as a function of out-of-plane torsional defects and it is found that an additional electron is localized primarily on a segment with an odd number of carbon atoms. In the presence of positively charged ions, electrons are attracted toward this charge and positive solitons formed at some distance from the perturbing ion. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Core-to-Rydberg band shift and broadening of hydrogen bonded ammonia clusters studied with nitrogen K-edge excitation spectroscopy

Nitrogen 1s (N 1s) core-to-Rydberg excitation spectra of hydrogen-bonded clusters of ammonia (AM) have been studied in the small cluster regime of beam conditions with time-of-flight (TOF) fragment-mass spectroscopy. By monitoring partial-ion-yield spectra of cluster-origin products, "cluster" specific excitation spectra could be recorded. Comparison of the "cluster" band with "monomer" band revealed that the first resonance bands of clusters corresponding to N 1s → 3sa(1)/3pe of AM monomer are considerably broadened. The changes of the experimental core-to-Rydberg transitions ΔFWHM (N 1s → 3sa(1)/3pe) = ~0.20/~0.50 eV compare well with the x ray absorption spectra of the clusters generated by using density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The broadening of the core-to-Rydberg bands in small clusters is interpreted as being primarily due to the splitting of non-equivalent core-hole N 1s states caused by both electrostatic core-hole and hydrogen-bonding (H(3)N···H-NH(2)) interactions upon dimerization. Under Cs dimer configuration, core-electron binding energy of H-N (H-donor) is significantly decreased by the intermolecular core-hole interaction and causes notable redshifts of core-excitation energies, whereas that of lone-pair nitrogen (H-acceptor) is slightly increased and results in appreciable blueshifts in the core-excitation bands. The result of the hydrogen-bonding interaction strongly appears in the n-σ* orbital correlation, destabilizing H-N donor Rydberg states in the direction opposite to the core-hole interaction, when excited N atom with H-N donor configuration strongly possesses the Rydberg component of anti-bonding σ* (N-H) character. Contributions of other cyclic H-bonded clusters (AM)(n) with n ≥ 3 to the spectral changes of the N 1s → 3sa(1)/3pe bands are also examined.     

Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium-ion Battery

A novel polymer electrolyte with the formula of Li2B4O7-PVA for lithium-ion battery was synthesized and its ion conductivity and mechanical properties were also tested. It is found that the conductivity of the prepared polymer electrolytes is higher than that of LiClO4/PEO or LiClO4/EC-DMC by two or three orders in magnitude and a large delocalized bond formed in Li2B4O7-PVA lead to transportation of Li ion easier, this electrolyte possesses high thermo-stability and can be used under 200℃.     

Many-body theory of the Auger Auger-electron coincidence spectroscopy (AAECS) spectra of solids

A pair of Auger electrons generated, respectively, by creation and annihilation of the same multiple-hole state can be collected in coincidence by Auger Auger-electron coincidence spectroscopy (AAECS). In the present paper a many-body theory of AAECS spectra generated by Auger cascade decays in which the lifetime of a core-hole acts as an internal clock for the screening mechanism is formulated by treating photoelectrons and Auger electrons on the same footing. The unexploited basic spectral features of AAECS spectra of solids are elucidated by the present theory to show how the core-hole screening (delocalization of a valence hole) will affect the coincidence spectral lineshape.     

A simple method for the calculation of π-bond orders in alternant hydrocarbons

A new method for the calculation of bond orders in alternant hydrocarbons is presented. The method requires a summation over the contributions of various superposition diagrams. Quantitatively, the method is almost as reliable as PPP, and due to its simplicity it can be used for fast and relatively accurate calculation of bond orders. In addition some simple rules are derived, which in many cases can be used to predict the signs of bond orders between nonbonded atoms.Dedicated to Professor J. Koutecký on the occasion of his 65th birthdayResearch supported by the Robert A. Welch Foundation of Houston, Texas     

Half or full core hole in density functional theory X-ray absorption spectrum calculations of water?

We analyze the performance of two different core-hole potentials in the theoretical modeling of XAS of ice, liquid and gas phase water; the use of a full core-hole (FCH) in the calculations, as suggested by Hetenyi et al. [B. Hetenyi, F. De Angelis, P. Giamozzi and R. Car, J. Chem. Phys., 2004, 120(18), 8632], gives poor agreement with experiment in terms of intensity distribution as well as transition energies, while the half core hole (HCH) potential, in the case of water, provides a better compromise between initial and final state effects, leading to good agreement with the experimental data.     

Semiempirical MO study on the abnormal bond orders of large networks of highly branched polyenes

The π-electronic structures of the ground state of linear and highly branched polyenes with up to 80 π-electrons are calculated with particular reference to the alternation of the bond orders. The MO methods adopted are HMO, PPP , variable-β, γ, and its improved version. The effect of the electron correlation through singly and doubly excited configurations is estimated with a second-order perturbation calculation. The calculated bond orders systematically vary with the degree of approximation used. Most of the bond order values can be grouped into either a single or double bond region. In certain series of highly branched polyenes the bond orders of double and single bonds at the root of branching, respectively, get smaller and larger as the size of the molecule increases and sometimes their difference gets diminishingly small. The origin of these abnormal bond orders is discussed in terms of the π-electron flow networks.     

Mills–Nixon effect in heteroanalogs of cyclopropabenzene

Structural properties of cyclopropabenzene and its heteroanalogs are studied at the SCF 6-31G level of theory. It is found that the Mills–Nixon (MN ) type of localization within the benzene ring is present in these systems. The origin of the bond fixation lies in rehybridization at the carbon junction atoms. π-electron bond orders usually follow changes within the sigma framework but can be misleading sometimes. It is shown that a judicious choice of heteroatoms can considerably enhance the MN effect. A refined and better definition of the MN effect is offered. Finally, present calculations and analysis of the results in terms of hybridization model and π-bond orders strongly indicate that experimental ⁴J(H? C? C? Me) proton–proton spin–spin couplings over four bonds can be used in identification of the MN effect only with extreme caution.     

Theory and calculations of X-ray spectra: XAS,XES, XRS,and NRIXS

There has been dramatic progress in recent years both in calculations and in the interpretation of various X-ray spectroscopies, ranging from X-ray absorption and emission to elastic and non-resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. Here we review a number of recent developments focusing primarily on the ab initio real-space Green's function (RSGF) approach, which is applicable to arbitrary aperiodic materials. The RSGF approach is essentially a quasi-particle approximation which takes into account final state effects including many-body, core-hole effects, lifetime, and Debye–Waller factors. While generally adequate for deep core spectra, corrections due to local screening fields can be important, even far above an absorption edge. Such corrections require a theory beyond the independent-electron approximation, and can be calculated using a combination of the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and the Bethe–Salpeter equation. The combined approach makes possible efficient calculations of optical constants from the UV to X-ray energies.