Elastic,electronic and thermal properties of topological insulator SmB6: first-principles calculations

Abstract

The pressure dependence of the structural, elastic, electronic and thermal properties of Kondo insulator SmB₆ have been systematically studied by density functional theory combined with the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The calculated structure at zero pressure is in good agreement with the available experimental results at low temperature. The obtained elastic constants, bulk modulus and shear modulus indicate that SmB₆ is mechanically stable and behaves in a brittle manner under the applied pressure 0–20 GPa, consistent with available experimental data. In addition, the elastic-relevant properties, Young’s modulus and the Poisson ratio manifest that increasing pressure results in an enhancement in the stiffness of the compound. It is found that unlike temperature, pressure has little effect on the heat capacity of SmB_6. What more important is that we observed an insulator to metal phase transition at about 5.5 GPa through the disappearance of the band gap, well consistent with the experimental data. This transition has little effect on the physical properties of SmB₆.     

DFT calculations for Au adsorption onto a reduced TiO2 (110) surface with the coexistence of Cl

Residual chlorines, which originate from HAuCl₄, enhance the aggregation of gold (Au) nanoparticles and clusters, preventing the generation of highly active supported Au catalysts. However, the detailed mechanism of residual-chlorine-promoted aggregation of Au is unknown. Herein to investigate this mechanism, density functional theory (DFT) calculations of Au and Cl adsorption onto a reduced rutile TiO₂ (110) surface were performed using a generalised gradient approximation Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof formula (GGA–PBE) functional and plane-wave basis. Although both Au and Cl atoms prefer to mono-absorb onto oxygen defect sites, Cl atoms have a stronger absorption onto a reduced TiO₂ (110) surface, abbreviated as rTiO₂ (110) in the following, than Au atoms. Additionally, co-adsorption of a Cl atom and a Au atom or Au nanorod onto a rTiO₂ surface was investigated; Cl adsorption onto an oxygen defect site weakens the interaction between a Au atom or Au nanorod and rTiO₂ (110) surface. The calculation results suggest that the depletion of interaction between Au and rTiO₂ surface is due to strong interaction between Cl atoms at oxygen defect sites and neighbouring bridging oxygen (O^B) atoms.     

烟气中Hg的氧化机理的研究

本文对Ｈｇ与Ｃｌ２在烟气中的氧化反应进行了热力平衡计算和动力学计算。平衡计算的结果表明有ＣＩ元索存在时Ｈｇ的氧化率为１００％，而在相同的条件下动力学计算纺果为Ｈｇ的氧化率在２０％～８０％之间变化，与实验结果吻合。实际的氧化反应是一种超平衡状态，不能达到理想的平衡状态。因此应采用动力学与热力平衡分析相结合的方法研究Ｈｇ在烟气中的反应机理。同时，计算结果显示Ｃｌ含量对Ｈｇ的氧化率的影响很大．     

Effect of lattice strain on the oxygen vacancy formation and hydrogen adsorption at CeO2(111) surface

Using first-principles calculation, the effect of lattice strain on the oxygen vacancy formation at CeO₂(111) surface has been investigated. The tensile strain facilitates the oxygen vacancy formation at the surface and the compressive strain hinders the process. This is in part due to the strengthening or weakening of the surface Ce–O bond under the lattice strain. On the other hand, a more open surface with a larger lattice constant can better accommodate the larger Ce³⁺ and thus facilitate the structural relaxation of the reduced surface. The studies on the strain effect on the atomic hydrogen adsorption at the defect-free CeO₂(111) surface show that the adsorption strength monotonously increases with the increase of the lattice strain, further confirming the tunable surface chemical activity by lattice strain.     

The evolution of polarization inside ultrathin PbTiO3 films: a theoretical study

How to control the material properties by manipulating the unitcell thickness is crucial for applications of ferroelectric ultrathin films. To understand the polarization behaviour of ultrathin PbTiO₃ (PTO) films grown on SrTiO₃ (STO) substrate, we have systematically explored the strength and direction of polarization in each unitcell layer, using density functional theory combined with Born effective charge method. Strikingly, we find that the polar state of ultrathin PTO films is a composite result depending not only on thickness but also on boundary condition, initial polarization direction, etc. Besides, we also studied the surface effect on the polarization in the thicker PTO films for comparison with the ultrathin ones, which suggests that the surface effect is basically confined in a small range (3–5 unitcells thick at surface region) no matter what kinds of surface terminations and polarization directions.     

基于MoO3/Ag/MoO3透明阳极的顶发射OLED的模拟计算与制备

运用传输矩阵法和正交分析法模拟计算出MoO₃/Ag/MoO₃透明电极的最佳厚度,采用镀膜实验验证模拟计算的准确性,制备了一系列不同MoO₃膜厚度和Ag膜厚度的透明电极。然后,制备了一系列顶发射有机电致发光器件:铝/氟化锂(LiF)/三(8-羟基喹啉)铝(Alq₃)/N,N'-二苯基-N,N'-(1-萘基)-1,1'-联苯-4,4'-二胺/三氧化钼(MoO₃)/银(Ag)/三氧化钼(MoO₃),来进一步验证模拟计算运用在器件制备中的准确性。MoO₃(10 nm)/Ag(10 nm)/MoO₃(25 nm)在532 nm处的透射率达到最大值88.256%,以该透明电极制备的器件与参考器件相比,性能有了明显提高,最大亮度和最大效率分别为20 076 cd/m²和4.03 cd/A,提高了18.5%和56%。器件性能的提高归因于顶发射OLED器件透射率的提高和MoO₃对空穴注入能力的提升。     

First-principles investigation of chemical modification on two-dimensional iron–phthalocyanine sheet

Successful synthesis of single iron–phthalocyanie(FePc) framework layer on substrate and its transferrable properties open the door for decorating the separately distributed transition metals for exploring the diverse properties. We have studied the effects of chemical modification on two-dimensional FePc organometallic framework with density functional theory. For simplicity, the non-metal atoms with variant valence electrons are used as prototypes to estimate the effects from chemical modifications with different functional groups. The thermo-stabilities of the non-metal atom decorated complex sheet materials have been estimated by the first-principles constant energy molecular dynamic simulations. Upon the nonmetal atom adsorption, the magnetic moment could be changed from 2 μBto 0, 1, 2, and 3 μBper unit cell for the case of tetra-, penta-, hexa-, and hepta-valent non-metal modifications, respectively, showing interesting promise to tailor its magnetic properties for potential applications.     

溶剂对香豆素343染料光谱性质和最低激发态偶极矩的影响

通过对香豆素343(C343)在不同溶剂中的稳态吸收光谱、稳态荧光光谱和时间分辨荧光光谱的分析,研究了溶剂对C343的光谱性质的影响,并获得了光谱特性与溶剂极性之间的依赖关系. 吸收光谱峰值的红移随着溶剂极性的增加而发生较小的变化. 然而,荧光光谱的峰值对溶剂的极性却很敏感,并随着溶剂极性参数f(ε,n)的增加呈线性增长. 这是由于C343激发态电荷分布的变化导致了它在极性溶剂中第一激发单重态能级的变化. 用溶剂效应测量法和量子化学计算方法确定了C343最低激发态的偶极矩,这两方法所得的结果一致. C343在不同溶剂中的时间分辨荧光光谱研究表明荧光寿命随着溶剂极性的增加而增加,即从甲苯溶液的3.09 ns线性地增加到水溶液中4.45 ns;荧光寿命延长的根源可归因于C343与氢键给体溶剂之间的分子间氢键相互作用.     

柚皮素/β-环糊精超分子体系的包合行为

本文采用超声法制备了柚皮素（NAR）与β-环糊精（βCD）的包合物.粉末-X射线衍射（XRD）和红外吸收光谱（IR）测定均表明形成的包合物具有不同于主客体的新的结构性质.¹H NMR与ROESY核磁共振（NMR）实验表明NAR以苯环端从βCD的宽口端进入，并形成稳定的超分子包合物.量子化学计算分析NAR/βCD包合物的形成过程表明，驱动力源于焓驱动与氢键弱相互作用力；能隙和结合能分析得到的最优包合模式与NMR研究结果一致；ONIOM分层计算验证了上述结果.分子对接模拟出的最优包合模式也与量子化学计算、NMR的分析结果吻合.本文获取了清晰的NAR/βCD包合物构型及其形成机理，为该超分子药物的定量构效关系研究提供了理论参考.     

Extraction of local coordination structure in a low‐concentration uranyl system by XANES

Obtaining structural information of uranyl species at an atomic/molecular scale is a critical step to control and predict their physical and chemical properties. To obtain such information, experimental and theoretical L₃‐edge X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure (XANES) spectra of uranium were studied systematically for uranyl complexes. It was demonstrated that the bond lengths (R) in the uranyl species and relative energy positions (ΔE) of the XANES were determined as follows: ΔE₁ = 168.3/R(U—O_ax)² ? 38.5 (for the axial plane) and ΔE₂ = 428.4/R(U—O_eq)² ? 37.1 (for the equatorial plane). These formulae could be used to directly extract the distances between the uranium absorber and oxygen ligand atoms in the axial and equatorial planes of uranyl ions based on the U L₃‐edge XANES experimental data. In addition, the relative weights were estimated for each configuration derived from the water molecule and nitrate ligand based on the obtained average equatorial coordination bond lengths in a series of uranyl nitrate complexes with progressively varied nitrate concentrations. Results obtained from XANES analysis were identical to that from extended X‐ray absorption fine‐structure (EXAFS) analysis. XANES analysis is applicable to ubiquitous uranyl–ligand complexes, such as the uranyl–carbonate complex. Most importantly, the XANES research method could be extended to low‐concentration uranyl systems, as indicated by the results of the uranyl–amidoximate complex (～40 p.p.m. uranium). Quantitative XANES analysis, a reliable and straightforward method, provides a simplified approach applied to the structural chemistry of actinides.