First-principles study of the effect of mechanical strength on ion transport in La-doped LiF-SEI on the Li (001) surface

The solid electrolyte interface (SEI) plays an important role in the lithium–sulfur battery system. It not only protects the stability of the lithium metal anode interface but also inhibits the growth of lithium dendrites during charge and discharge. The relationship between the shape of the SEI and the transport behavior of lithium ions affects the homogeneity of lithium dendrites. In this work, first-principles calculations are used to determine the stable structure and transport properties of the La-doped LiF solid electrolyte interface (La–LiF SEI) on the Li substrate. For the vertical transport of Li ions within the La–LiF SEI, the transport of Li ions in the grain boundary and that in the crystal grain was calculated separately. Regarding the plane diffusion behavior of Li ions between the La–LiF SEI and the lithium anode, the diffusion of Li ions on the surface and interface of the lithium anode were calculated. The effect of critical tensile strain on the diffusion of Li ions on the surface and interface was investigated. The results show that doping with La solves the problem of excessive periodic grain boundary gaps caused by the difference between LiF and Li lattices during the deposition process. The periodic gap is reduced from 0.478 nm to 0.306 nm after La doping. By comparing the migration energy barriers of each path, it is found that lithium ions are more likely to be inserted and extracted at the La–LiF SEI grain boundary. The reason is that the existence of the rare earth element La causes the grain boundary to have a more stable vacancy structure and a smaller transport energy barrier (0.789 eV). The critical tensile strain reduces the diffusion energy barrier (0.813 eV) of Li ions on the surface of the lithium metal anode, which promotes the fast diffusion and uniform deposition of Li ions between the interfaces. The establishment of SEI transport characteristics under the coupling conditions of mechanical stretching and ion transport is expected to improve the Li deposition behavior.     

The infrared spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons containing a five-membered ring: symmetry breaking and the B3LYP functional

The infrared spectra of six molecules, each of which contains a five-membered ring, and their cations are determined using density functional theory; both the B3LYP and BP86 functionals are used. The computed results are compared with the experimental spectra. For the neutral molecules, both methods are in good agreement with experiment. Even the Hartree–Fock (HF) approach is qualitatively correct for the neutral species. For the cations, the HF approach fails, as found for other organic ring systems. The B3LYP and BP86 approaches are in good mutual agreement for five of the six cation spectra, and are in good agreement with experiment for four of the five cations where the experimental spectra are available. It is only for the fluoranthene cation where the BP86 and B3LYP functionals yield different results; the BP86 approach yields the expected C _{2 v} symmetry, while the B3LYP approach breaks symmetry. The experimental spectra support the BP86 spectra over the B3LYP spectra, but the quality of the experimental spectra does not allow a critical evaluation of the accuracy of the BP86 approach for this difficult system. Received: 9 February 1999 / Accepted: 31 March 1999 / Published online: 14 July 1999     

石墨烯中的单空位缺陷对铂原子催化解离氧分子的影响

采用密度泛函理论中的B3LYP方法研究了石墨烯中的单空位缺陷对铂原子(Pt)催化解离O_2分子的影响.计算发现O_2分子首先通过[2+1]或[2+2]环加成作用吸附在以单空位缺陷石墨烯为载体的Pt上(Pt-SV),并以不同的路径进行解离,吸附能分别为-158.23和-152.45kJ/mol.由于石墨烯片上单空位缺陷的存在,O_2分子更容易吸附在单空位缺陷处的Pt上,并且O_2在Pt-SV上解离的能垒(130.25kJ/mol)也明显比在Pt-pristine上解离的能垒低(76.23kJ/mol).因此石墨烯上单空位缺陷的存在提高增加了Pt的催化能力.     

Photodecay dynamics of octaethylporphine in the condensed phase explored via resonance Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculation

Resonance Raman spectra of free-base octaethylporphine (OEP) were obtained with 368.9 nm, 397.9 nm and 416.0 nm excitation wavelengths, and density functional calculations were done to help the elucidation of Soret (B(x) and B(y)-band) electronic transitions and the corresponding photo relaxation dynamics of OEP. The RRs indicate that the Franck-Condon region photo relaxation dynamics upon S(0)→S(8) electronic transition is predominantly along the totally symmetric C(m)C(α) stretch, the C(β)C(β) stretch, and simultaneously along the asymmetric δ(pyr deformation),γ(CH(2)) vibrational relaxation processes. The excited state structural dynamics of OEP determined from resonance Raman spectra show that the internal conversion between B(y) and B(x) electronic states occurs in tens of femtoseconds and the electronic relaxation dynamics were firstly interpreted with account of the time-dependent wave packet theory and Herzberg-Teller (vibronic coupling) contributions.     

Simultaneous studies of pressure effect on charge transport and photophysical properties in organic semiconductors: A theoretical investigation

High-mobility and strong luminescent materials are essential as an important component of organic photodiodes, having received extensive attention in the field of organic optoelectronics. Beyond the conventional chemical synthesis of new molecules, pressure technology, as a flexible and efficient method, can tune the electronic and optical properties reversibly. However, the mechanism in organic materials has not been systematically revealed. Here, we theoretically predicted the pressure-depended luminescence and charge transport properties of high-performance organic optoelectronic semiconductors, 2,6-diphenylanthracene (DPA), by first-principle and multi-scale theoretical calculation methods. The dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) and hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) method were used to get the electronic structures and vibration properties under pressure. Furthermore, the charge transport and luminescence properties were calculated with the quantum tunneling method and thermal vibration correlation function. We found that the pressure could significantly improve the charge transport performance of the DPA single crystal. When the applied pressure increased to 1.86 GPa, the hole mobility could be doubled. At the same time, due to the weak exciton coupling effect and the rigid flat structure, there is neither fluorescence quenching nor obvious emission enhancement phenomenon. The DPA single crystal possesses a slightly higher fluorescence quantum yield ～ 0.47 under pressure. Our work systematically explored the pressure-dependence photoelectric properties and explained the inside mechanism. Also, we proposed that the external pressure would be an effective way to improve the photoelectric performance of organic semiconductors.     

吡咯和呋喃气相质子化过程的密度泛函理论研究

Density functional theory and ab initio calculations have been used to determine structures and stabilities of the protonated aromatics species AH^＋ and AH2^2＋ （A=pyrrole, furan）. Possible mechanisms and relative energetics for protonation of pyrrole and furan by H3O^＋ and AH^＋ in the gas phase have been explored. Calculations show that the Cα-protonated species was the most stable structure for AH^＋, and the protonated AH^＋ might accommodate the second proton to yield AH2^2＋ if the free proton was available. The gas-phase H3O^＋ could protonate pyrrole and furan with significant exothermiCity and almost without barrier. The proton transfer from AH4^＋ to pyrrole and furan has a barrier ranging from 33.5 to 39.3 kJ/mol in the gas phase.     

On the NH3+HCO3H→HCOOH+H3NO mechanism: a density functional theory study

The B1LYP, B3LYP and MPW1PW91 density functional theory methods combined with the 6-311G(2d, 2p) basis set were used to carry out a density functional theory study of the NH₃+HCO₃H→HCOOH+H₃NO reaction. The purpose of this work is to study the reaction mechanism from the viewpoint of bond order transformations throughout the course of the reaction, and propose the reasons for the apparent differences in activation barriers.     

Effect of selected dopants on conductivity and moisture stability of Li3PS4 sulfide solid electrolyte: a first-principles study

The first principle computational screening was performed to investigate the effect of selected dopants for Li₃PS₄ sulfide solid electrolyte on its ionic conductivity and stability toward moisture. The results suggest that substitution P⁵⁺ using isovalent cations whose electronegativity (EN) value is closer to the value of S has more significant effects on the ionic conductivity, whereby W⁵⁺ and Sb⁵⁺ can improve most. Similarly, aliovalent cation substitutions with compensating changes in the lithium-ion concentration, particularly those with a lower oxidation state and higher EN, such as Cu²⁺, effectively enhance the lithium-ion conductivity in this structure. For cation dopants, it is found that ionic conductivity improvement of Li₃PS₄ is the synergetic effect of EN and oxidation number of the dopant as well as the material's lattice parameter change. Oxides of the considered cation dopants can also improve the ionic conductivity of the material but have much lower lithium-ion conductivity than the cases of cation dopants. However, the metal oxide dopants, particularly those derived from soft Lewis' acid cations, show a marginal improvement in moisture stability of the Li₃PS₄ electrolyte. The effect of halides and metal halide dopants on the lithium-ion conductivity and moisture stability of Li₃PS₄ electrolyte are also studied. It is found that metal halides are more effective than any other dopants in improving the ionic conductivity of Li₃PS₄.     

Magnetic exchange behavior of a long-range Cu system through the diamagnetic Cu2 unit bridge: A DFT study

The mechanism of magnetic exchange interaction in an interesting Cu^II coordination polymer with the Cu^I₂X₂ (X = I or Br) moiety bridge is investigated by the calculations based on density functional theory combined with the broken-symmetry approach (DFT-BS). Surprisingly, different from the experiment results, the calculations reveal that the complex between the magnetic Cu^II centers has a fairly weak antiferromagnetic interaction for the long distance (∼10 Å). The analyses show of the molecular orbitals and the spin density distribution favor the very weak antiferromagnetic coupling interactions of the systems.     

Local and non-local DF calculation of the structure of the helically twisted 1,3-dimethyl-{(η-chromium-tricarbonyl)benzo}-[b]naphtho[1,2-d]pyran-6-one: a comparison

The ground state structure of the helically twisted, configuratively unstable biaryl lactone 1,3-dimethyl-{(η⁶-chromium-tricarbonyl)-benzo}[b]naphtho[1,2-d]pyran-6-one, the central intermediate in the stereoselective synthesis of axially chiral biaryls, was calculated using the LDA and the NL-DF methods. The results of different functionals were compared with the experimental data from an X-ray structure analysis. The DF geometries, especially those obtained through the non-local BP functional match very well with the X-ray data.     

The vibrational frequencies of CaO2, ScO2, and TiO2: a comparison of theoretical methods

The vibrational frequencies of several states of␣CaO₂, ScO₂, and TiO₂ are computed using density functional theory (DFT), the Hartree-Fock approach, second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), and the complete-active-space self-consistent-field theory. Three different functionals are used in the DFT calculations, including two hybrid functionals. The coupled cluster singles and doubles approach including the effect of connected triples, determined using perturbation theory, is applied to selected states. The Becke-Perdew 86 functional appears to be the most cost-effective method of choice, although even this functional does not perform well for one state of CaO₂. The MP2 approach is significantly inferior to the DFT approaches. Received: 3 September 1997 / Accepted: 8 December 1997     

7Li, 31P, and 1H pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) diffusion NMR spectroscopy and ion pairing: on the temperature dependence of the ion pairing in Li(CPh3), fluorenyllithium, and Li[N(SiMe3)2] amongst other salts

7Li, 31P, and 1H variable-temperature pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) diffusion methods have been used to study ion pairing and aggregation states for a range of lithium salts such as lithium halides, lithium carbanions, and a lithium amide in THF solutions. For trityllithium (2) and fluorenyllithium (9), it is shown that ion pairing is favored at 299 K but the ions are well separated at 155 K. For 2-lithio-1,3-dithiane (13) and lithium hexamethyldisilazane (LiHMDS 16), low-temperature data show that the ions remain together. For the dithio anion 13, a mononuclear species has been established, whereas for the lithium amide 16, the PGSE results allow two different aggregation states to be readily recognized. For the lithium halides LiX (X = Br, Cl, I) in THF, the 7Li PGSE data show that all three salts can be described as well-separated ions at ambient temperature. The solid state structure of trityllithium (2) is described and reveals a solvent-separated ion pair formed by a [Li(thf)4]+ ion and a bare triphenylmethide anion.     

The Use of 15N NMR Spectroscopy To Resolve the “Higher Order Cyanocuprate” Controversy: 15N, 6Li,and 13C NMR Spectroscopic Investigations of CuCN-Derived Butyl Cuprates

Structure 1 is the major component obtained by the reaction of two equivalents of RLi and one equivalent of CuCN; other proposed structures can now be ruled out on the basis of ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopic and theoretical studies. Thus, these useful synthetic reagents should be considered as cyano-Gilman reagents R₂CuLi⋅LiCN and not “higher order cyanocuprates” R₂Cu(CN)Li₂.     

Influence of Mn-doping on the chemical shielding tensors of Ga and N in the armchair GaN nanotubes: A DFT study

The chemical shielding (CS) tensors of Gallium-71 and nitrogen-15 are computed for the first time in order to investigate the influence of Mn-doping on the electronic properties of the (5, 5) Gallium nitride nanotube (GaNNT). A GaNNT consisting of 40 Ga and 40 N atoms and having a 1.2 nm length was considered. One portal of the nanotube was capped by ten hydrogen atoms and other-end was kept open. Additionally, two other forms of this model of Mn-doped GaNNT were considered where a Mn-atom was substituted for a Ga atom either in the first or in the second layer. The calculations reveal that in both models of Mn-doped GaNNTs, the N atoms that are directly connected to the Mn atom have the smallest isotropic chemical shielding among other N atoms. These calculations were performed at the level of the density functional theory (DFT) using GAUSSIAN 03 package. The basis sets for Ga and N atoms were chosen to be 6-31G (d) and those for Mn atom were chosen to be LanL2DZ.     

The active catalytic species and its isomerisation in the catalytic carbonylation of methanol — a density functional study

The Monsanto acetic acid process is one of the most effective ways to produce acetic acid industrially. This process has been studied experimentally but theoretical investigations are so far sparse. In the current work the active catalytic species [Rh(CO)₂I₂]⁻ (1) and its isomerisation has been studied theoretically using the hybrid B3LYP exchange and correlation functional. Similar calculations has been performed for the iridium complex [Ir(CO)₂I₂]⁻ (2) that also is catalytically active in the methanol carbonylation. Experimental work has confirmed the existence of the cis forms of the active catalytic species, but they do not rule out the possibility of the trans isomers. Our gas phase results show that cis-1 has 4.95 kcal/mol lower free energy than trans-1, and cis-2 has 10.39 kcal/mol lower free energy than trans-2. In the case of rhodium, trans-1 can take part to the catalytic cycle but in case of iridium this is not very likely. We have also investigated the possible mechanisms of the cis to trans conversions. The ligand association mechanism gave free energy barrier of 13.7 kcal/mol for the rhodium complex and 19.8 kcal/mol for iridium. Thus the conversion for the rhodium complex is feasible whereas for iridium it is unlikely.     

Ligand Site Preference in Iron Tetracarbonyl Complexes Fe(CO)4L (L = CO,CS, N2, NO+, CN–, NC–, η2‐C2H4, η2‐C2H2, CCH2, CH2, CF2, NH3, NF3, PH3, PF3, η2‐H2)

Equilibrium geometries, bond dissociation energies and relative energies of axial and equatorial iron tetracarbonyl complexes of the general type Fe(CO)₄L (L = CO, CS, N2, NO⁺, CN^–, NC^–, η²‐C₂H₄, η²‐C₂H₂, CCH₂, CH₂, CF₂, NH₃, NF₃, PH₃, PF₃, η²‐H₂) are calculated in order to investigate whether or not the ligand site preference of these ligands correlates with the ratio of their σ‐donor/π‐acceptor capabilities. Using density functional theory and effective‐core potentials with a valence basis set of DZP quality for iron and a 6‐31G(d) all‐electron basis set for the other elements gives theoretically predicted structural parameters that are in very good agreement with previous results and available experimental data. Improved estimates for the (CO)₄Fe–L bond dissociation energies (D₀) are obtained using the CCSD(T)/II//B3LYP/II combination of theoretical methods. The strongest Fe–L bonds are found for complexes involving NO⁺, CN^–, CH₂ and CCH₂ with bond dissociation energies of 105.1, 96.5, 87.4 and 83.8 kcal mol^–1, respectively. These values decrease to 78.6, 64.3 and 64.2 kcal mol^–1, respectively, for NC^–, CF₂ and CS. The Fe(CO)₄L complexes with L = CO, η²‐C₂H₄, η²‐C₂H₂, NH₃, PH₃ and PF₃ have even smaller bond dissociation energies ranging from 45.2 to 37.3 kcal mol^–1. Finally, the smallest bond dissociation energies of 23.5, 22.9 and 18.5 kcal mol^–1, respectively are found for the ligands NF₃, N₂ and η²‐H₂. A detailed examination of the (CO)₄Fe–L bond in terms of a semi‐quantitative Dewar‐Chatt‐Duncanson (DCD) model is presented on the basis of the CDA and NBO approach. The comparison of the relative energies between axial and equatorial isomers of the various Fe(CO)₄L complexes with the σ‐donor/π‐acceptor ratio of their respective ligands L thus does not generally support the classical picture of π‐accepting ligands preferring equatorial coordination sites and σ‐donors tending to coordinate in axial positions. In particular, this is shown by iron tetracarbonyl complexes with L = η²‐C₂H₂, η²‐C₂H₄, η²‐H₂. Although these ligands are predicted by the CDA to be stronger σ‐donors than π‐acceptors, the equatorial isomers of these complexes are more stable than their axial pendants.     

The Molecular Mechanism of the Formation of Four-Membered Cyclic Nitronates and Their Retro (3 + 2) Cycloaddition: A DFT Mechanistic Study

In the present work, the formation of the four-membered cyclic nitronates and the retro (3 + 2) cycloaddition (retro-32CA) reaction of the 4H-[1,2]oxazete 2-oxide were studied using the density functional theory method at the MPWB1K/6-311G(d,p) theoretical level. The electronic structure of 3-tert-butyl-4,4-dimethyl-1,2-dinitro-pent-2-ene was known through electron localization function analysis, natural population analysis, and molecular electrostatic potential analysis. The formation of 4,4-di-tert-butyl-3-nitromethyl-4H-[1,2]oxazete 2-oxide proceeds through a one-step mechanism. The mechanism of the retro-32CA leading to di-tert-butyl ketone and nitrile oxide derivative should be described as an asynchronous two-stage one-step process. The bonding evolution theory study was carried out to clarify the mechanisms of the formation of 4H-[1,2]oxazete 2-oxide and their retro-32CA.     

DFT and CASPT2 study of two thermal reactions of nitromethane: C–N bond cleavage and nitro-to-nitrite isomerization. An example of the inverse symmetry breaking deficiency in density functional calculations of an homolytic dissociation

The reaction paths of nitromethane leading to the dissociation products or isomerization to methyl nitrite have been computationally investigated at the CAS-SCF and DFT levels of theory. Additionally, the CAS-SCF wave functions were used as reference in a second-order perturbation treatment, CASPT2, in order to obtain a good estimate for the activation energy of each reaction path. Both methods predict the isomerization as a concerted reaction. However, the behavior of the two approximations with respect to dissociation is rather different; while CASPT2 predicts a barrier height of (≈59 kcal/mol) in good accordance with the experimental activation energy (59.0 kcal/mol), B3-LYP/6-31G^* calculations overestimate the barrier for more than 30 kcal/mol. The DFT prediction of the dissociation channel exhibits inverse symmetry breaking, dissociating to the unphysical absurd CH₃^δ+ plus NO₂^δ−.     

Sonochemical Synthesis of a Novel Nanoscale Lead(II) Coordination Polymer: Synthesis,Crystal Structure,Thermal Properties,and DFT Calculations of [Pb(dmp)(μ‐N3)(μ‐NO3)]n with the Novel Pb2(μ‐N3)2(μ‐NO3)2 Unit

A new nanostructured coordination polymer of divalent lead with the ligand 2,9‐dimethyl‐1,10‐phenanthroline (dmp), [Pb(dmp)(μ‐N₃)(μ‐NO₃)]_n ( 1 ), was synthesized by sonochemical methods. The polymer was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray powder diffraction, IR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and elemental analyses. Compound 1 was structurally characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The single‐crystal analysis shows that the coordination number of Pb^II ions is seven, (PbN₄O₃) has a “stereo‐chemically active” electron lone pair, and the coordination sphere is hemidirected. The chains interact with each other through π–π stacking interactions to create a 3D framework. The structure of the title complex was optimized by density functional calculations. The calculated structural parameters and the IR spectrum of the title complex are in agreement with the crystal structure.