Towards a “Chemical” Hamiltonian

An analysis of the LCAO Hamiltonian is performed in terms of a “mixed” formulation of the second quantization for nonorthogonal orbitals, compressing the different interactions to one- and two-center terms as far as possible by performing appropriate projections. For this purpose an operator of atomic charge is also introduced, the expectation values of which are the Mulliken gross atomic populations on the individual atoms. The LCAO Hamiltonian is decomposed into terms having different physical meaning and significance: (i) sum of effective atomic Hamiltonians; (ii) the electrostatic interactions in the point-charge approximation; (iii) the electrostatic effects connected with the deviation of the actual charge distribution from the pointlike one; (iv) two-center overlap effects; (v) finite basis (“counterpoise”) correction terms related to the individual atoms; and (vi) similar finite basis correction terms with respect to the two-center interactions. Only terms of types (i) to (iv), containing no three- or four-center integrals, are considered as having physical significance. Based on the analysis of the Hamiltonian, an energy partitioning scheme is developed, and explicit expressions are given for one- and two-center (and basis extension) components of the SCF energy. The approach is also applied to the problem of intermolecular interactions, and an explicit formula is given permitting calculation of the “counterpoise” part of the supermolecule energy by properly taking into account that it depends not only on the extension of the basis, but also on the occupation of the additional orbitals in the intervening molecule—a factor completely overlooked in the usual scheme of calculations.     

“Superpermeability” and “pumping” of atomic hydrogen through palladium membranes

Permeation of atomic as well as molecular hydrogen through palladium membranes has been investigated experimentally in the temperature range from room temperature to 200 °C and at a higher incident flux of hydrogen atoms on palladium surface than in previous studies. The results demonstrate that phenomena of ‘superpermeability’ and ‘pumping’ of atomic gases through metal membranes are of a common nature. A theoretical model based on chemical thermodynamics and diffusion theory adequately describes the quantitative relationships observed in experiments. It was found that permeability of atomic hydrogen depends strongly on the magnitude of surface incident flux and membrane temperature.