Nonlinear optical property calculations by the long-range-corrected coupled-perturbed Kohn-Sham method

The long-range correction (LC) scheme for the exchange functional of density-functional theory (DFT) was combined with the coupled-perturbed Kohn-Sham (CPKS) method to calculate nonlinear optical response properties. By using this LC-CPKS method, we calculated the hyperpolarizabilities of typical molecules and the dipole moments, polarizabilities, and hyperpolarizabilities of push-pull pi-conjugated systems: p-nitroaniline, 4-amino-4'-nitrostilbene, and alpha,omega-nitroaminopolyenes. It was found that the LC scheme clearly improved the calculation of these optical properties for all of these systems, which have been significantly overestimated by conventional DFTs. We therefore concluded that the long-range exchange interaction played an important role in calculating the optical properties using the DFT formalism.     

Adsorbability and photocatalytic degradability of humic substances in water on Ti-modified silica

From the viewpoint of development of a removal agent for humic substances, we prepared Ti-modified silica gel, SiO2-Ti, from titanium alkoxide and microsized silica gel. The prepared silica agent was investigated in adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of humic substances in water. In these experiments, four humic substances, commercially available Wako humic acid (Wako-HA), Nordic aquatic humic acid (Nordic-HA), Nordic aquatic fulvic acid (Nordic-FA), and Suwannee river fulvic acid (Suwannee-FA), were used, and Freundlich constants (KF and 1/n) and photodegradation rates were evaluated. Wako-HA, which has the highest aromaticity ratio [Ar-OH]/[COOH] and molecular weight, had the highest adsorbability (KF=17.5 (mg/g)(L/mg)(1/n), 1/n=0.67) but the lowest photodegradability (<80%). On the other hand, Suwannee-FA, which has the lowest aromaticity, [Ar-OH]/[COOH] ratio, and molecular weight, afforded lesser adsorbability (KF=7.1 (mg/g)(L/mg)(1/n), 1/n=0.39) but the highest photodegradability (>99%). Nordic-HA and Nordic-FA afforded adsorbabilities similar to that for Suwannee-FA, and medium photodegradabilities between those for Wako-HA and Suwannee-FA. Adsorption and photodegradation capacities of SiO2-Ti were improved with increased Ti content and phosphorescence emission amount, respectively. From XRD analysis, we found that the structure of anatase-type TiO2 features the Ti modifiers of SiO2-Ti. Therefore, humic substance molecules effectively interact with the Ti modifiers and are decomposed by OH radicals generated in situ. We hope that SiO2-Ti will be used as a photodegradation catalyst in water purification plants.     

Study on carbon dioxide reduction with water over metal oxide photocatalysts

Various metal oxides with 0.1 wt% Ag loaded as a cocatalyst were prepared by an impregnation method and examined their photocatalytic activity for CO₂ reduction with water. Among all the prepared Ag-loaded metal oxides, Ga₂O₃, ZrO₂, Y₂O₃, MgO, and La₂O₃ showed activities for CO and H₂ productions under ultraviolet light irradiation. Thus, metal oxides involving metal cations with closed shell electronic structures such as d⁰, d¹⁰, and s⁰ had the potential for CO₂ reduction with water. In situ Fourier transform infrared measurement revealed that the photocatalytic activity and selectivity for CO production are controlled by the amount and chemical states of CO₂ adsorbed on the catalyst surface and by the surface basicity, as summarized as follows: Ag/ZrO₂ enhanced H₂ production rather than CO production due to very little CO₂ adsorption. Ag/Ga₂O₃ exhibited the highest activity for CO production, because adsorbed monodentate bicarbonate was effectively converted to bidentate formate being the reaction intermediates for CO production owing to its weak surface basicity. Ag/La₂O₃, Ag/Y₂O₃, and Ag/MgO having both weak and strong basic sites adsorbed larger amount of carbonate species including their ions and suppressed H₂ production. However, the adsorbed carbonate species were hardly converted to the bidentate formate.     

A non-orthogonal Kohn-Sham method using partially fixed molecular orbitals

A density functional theory method using partially fixed molecular orbitals (PFMOs) is presented. The PFMOs, which have some fixed molecular orbital coefficients and are non-orthogonal, are a generalization of the extreme localized orbitals (ELMOs) of Couty, Bayse, and Hall (1997) Theor Chem Acc 97:96. A non-orthogonal Kohn-Sham method with these PFMOs is derived, and is applied to molecular calculations on the ionization potential of pyridine, the energy difference between cis- and trans-butadiene, the reaction barrier height of the cyclobutene-cis-butadiene interconversion, and the potential energy curve of the hydrogen shift reaction of hydroxycarbene to formaldehyde. The PFMO Kohn-Sham method reproduces well the results of the full Kohn-Sham method without having a restriction on the molecular orbital coefficients. The difference is less than 0.1 eV in the ionization potential and about 0.1 kcal/mol in the barrier height and in the potential energy calculations.     

Remarkable ligand effect on the palladium-catalyzed double carbonylation of aryl iodides

The use of t-Bu3P as a ligand dramatically improved the generality of the double carbonylation of aryl iodides, and Mo(CO)6 was also found to be effective as a CO source in the system.     

Effects of the crystalline structure of Ga2O3 on the photocatalytic activity for CO production from CO2

Ga₂O₃ samples with different crystalline structures were prepared by calcination of a gallium nitrate powder around 800 K. Ga₂O₃ samples with mixed phases of γ and β showed high photocatalytic activity for CO production from CO₂ reduction with water, and the activity was even higher than that for an Ag-loaded β-Ga₂O_3. The photocatalytic activity increased with time. The increase was attributed to the appearance of GaOOH resulting from the interaction of Ga₂O₃ with water during the reaction as revealed by XRD and XPS analyses. In situ FT-IR measurements revealed that bicarbonates and bidentate carbonate species were adsorbed on GaOOH. Therefore, the increase of the photocatalytic activity with time would be derived from the formation of GaOOH phase on the γ-Ga₂O₃ and β-Ga₂O₃ sample.     

Observation of an amplitude collapse and revival of chirped coherent phonons in bismuth

We have studied the A(1g) coherent phonons in bismuth generated by high fluence ultrashort laser pulses. We observed that the nonlinear regime, where the phonons' oscillation parameters depend on fluence, consists of subregimes with distinct dynamics. Just after entering the nonlinear regime, the phonons become chirped. Increasing the fluence further leads to the emergence of a collapse and revival, which next turns into multiple collapses and revivals. This is explained by the dynamics of a wave packet in an anharmonic potential, where the packet periodically breaks up and reconstitutes in its original form, giving convincing evidence that the phonons are in a quantum state, with no classical analog.