Adsorption of SH and OH and coadsorption of S, O and H on Ni(111)

The adsorption of SH and OH radicals on Ni(111) is treated using an ab initio embedding theory. The Ni(111) surface is modeled as a three-layer, 28-atom cluster with the Ni atoms fixed at bulk lattice sites. The Ni(111) energy surface is very flat for SH adsorption if the H tilt angle is allowed to vary. At both atop and bridge sites, the S---H axis is tilted away from the surface normal by 70°, resulting in the sulfur atom being sp³-hybridized and the adsorption energy being 59 kcal mol⁻¹. For SH at the three-fold site, the S---H axis is normal to the surface, the sulfur is sp-hybridized, and the adsorption energy is 58 kcal mol⁻¹. OH is preferentially adsorbed at the three-fold site. The calculated adsorption energy is 90 kcal mol⁻¹ and the O---H axis is perpendicular to the surface. OH adsorption at the atop and bridge sites is 16 and 5 kcal mol⁻¹ less stable than at the three-fold site, respectively. Atomic H, O and S are preferentially adsorbed at the three-fold site. The calculated adsorption energies are 62, 92 and 87 kcal mol⁻¹, for H, O and S, respectively. The calculated adsorbate---Ni bond distances of 1.86 Å for H, 1.86 Å for O and 2.29 Å for S are in good agreement with experimental data. SH and OH bonding to the surface involves a combination of ionic and covalent contributions and substantial mixing with the Ni 3d orbitals. Dipole-moment calculations indicate strong ionic bonding for the atomic O/Ni system and ionic plus covalent character for the atomic S/Ni interactions. Adsorption of S and O at the three-fold site blocks H adsorption at the nearby surface. Moving H away from the S or O adatom reduces the repulsion. The dissociation of SH_ad → S_ad + H_ad is calculated to be exothermic by 5 kcal mol⁻¹ and OH_ad → O_ad + H_ad to be endothermic by 30 kcal mol⁻¹ for infinite separation between S, O and H.