DFT Investigations of Aun Nano-Clusters Supported on TiO2 Nanotubes: Structures and Electronic Properties

TiO₂ nanotubes (TiO₂NTs) are beneficial for photogenerated electron separation in photocatalysis. In order to improve the utilization rate of TiO₂NTs in the visible light region, an effective method is to use Au_n cluster deposition-modified TiO₂NTs. It is of great significance to investigate the mechanism of Au_n clusters supported on TiO₂NTs to strengthen its visible-light response. In this work, the structures, electronic properties, Mulliken atomic charge, density of states, band structure, and deformation density of Au_n (n = 1, 8, 13) clusters supported on TiO₂NTs were investigated by DMOL3. Based on published research results, the most stable adsorption configurations of Au_n (n = 1, 8, 13) clusters supported with TiO₂NTs were obtained. The adsorption energy increased as the number of Au adatoms increased linearly. The Au_n clusters supported on TiO₂NTs carry a negative charge. The band gaps of the three most stable structures of each adsorption system decreased compared to TiO₂NTs; the valence top and the conduction bottom of the Fermi level come mainly from the contribution of 5d and 6s-Au. The electronic properties of the 5d and 6s impurity orbitals cause valence widening and band gap narrowing.