The energetic pathways of adsorption and activation of carbon dioxide (CO2) on low-lying compact (TiO2)n clusters are systematically investigated by using electronic structure calculations based on density-functional ...The energetic pathways of adsorption and activation of carbon dioxide (CO2) on low-lying compact (TiO2)n clusters are systematically investigated by using electronic structure calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT). Our calculated results show that CO2 is adsorbed preferably on the bridge O atom of the clusters, forming a "chemisorption" carbonate complex, while the CO is adsorbed preferably to the Ti atom of terminal Ti-O.The computed carbonate vibrational frequency values are in good agreement with the results obtained experimentally, which suggests that CO2 in the complex is distorted slightly from its undeviating linear configuration. In addition, the analyses of electronic parameters, electronic density, ionization potential, HOMO-LUMO gap, and density of states(DOS) confirm the charge transfer and interaction between CO2 and the cluster. From the predicted energy profiles, CO2 can be easily adsorbed and activated, while the activation of CO2 on (TiO2)n clusters are structure-dependent and energetically more favorable than that on the bulk TiO2. Overall, this study critically highlights how the small (TiO2)n clusters can influence the CO2 adsorption and activation which are the critical steps for CO2 reduction the surface of a catalyst and subsequent conversion into industrially relevant chemicals and fuels.展开更多
The growth and thermal stability of Au clusters on a partially-reduced rutile TiO2 (110)-1 × 1 surface were investigated by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron- radiation-light. The val...The growth and thermal stability of Au clusters on a partially-reduced rutile TiO2 (110)-1 × 1 surface were investigated by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron- radiation-light. The valence-band photoelectron spectroscopy results demonstrate that the Ti^3+3d feature attenuates quickly with the initial deposition of Au clusters, implying that Au clusters nucleate at the oxygen vacancy sites. The Au4f core-level photoelectron spectroscopy results directly prove the existence of charge transfer from oxygen vacancies to Au clusters. The thermal stability of Au clusters on the partially-reduced and stoichiometric TiO2(110) surfaces was also comparatively investigated by the annealing experiments. With the same film thickness, Au clusters are more thermally stable on the partially-reduced TiO2(110) surface than on the stoichiometric TiO2(110) surface. Meanwhile, large Au nanoparticles are more thermally stable than fine Au nanoparticles.展开更多
Oxide-supported transition metal systems have been the subject of enormous interest due to the improvement of catalytic properties relative to the separate metal.Thus in this paper,we embark on a systematic study for ...Oxide-supported transition metal systems have been the subject of enormous interest due to the improvement of catalytic properties relative to the separate metal.Thus in this paper,we embark on a systematic study for Pd n (n=1-5) clusters adsorbed on TiO2 (110) surface based on DFT-GGA calculations utilizing periodic supercell models.A single Pd adatom on the defect-free surface prefers to adsorb at a hollow site bridging a protruded oxygen and a five-fold titanium atom along the [110] direction,while Pd dimer is located on the channels with the Pd-Pd bond parallel to the surface.According to the transition states (TSs) search,the adsorbed Pd trimer tends to triangular growth mode,rather than linear mode,while the Pd4 and Pd5 clusters prefer three-dimensional (3D) models.However,the oxygen vacancy has almost no influence on the promotion of Pd n cluster nucleation.Additionally,of particular significance is that the Pd-TiO2 interaction is the main driving force at the beginning of Pd nucleation,whereas the Pd-Pd interaction gets down to control the growth process of Pd cluster as the cluster gets larger.It is hoped that our theoretical study would shed light on further designing high-performance TiO2 supported Pd-based catalysts.展开更多
The stable configurations and hydrogen bond nature of (H2O)n clusters (n = 3-6) have been investigated by the B3LYP method at the 6-31++g^** level. Upon calculation, four conclusions have been drawn: (1) In...The stable configurations and hydrogen bond nature of (H2O)n clusters (n = 3-6) have been investigated by the B3LYP method at the 6-31++g^** level. Upon calculation, four conclusions have been drawn: (1) In the (H2O)3-5 clusters, cyclic configurations were confirmed to be the most stable. But in the (H2O)3-4 ones, only cyclic configurations could be observed. From n = 5 ((H2O)5 clusters), three-dimensional configuration could be found: (2) In the (H2O)6 clusters, all configurations are inclined to be three-dimensional except the most stable configuration which is cyclic; (3) The stable order of (H2O)6 clusters indicates that it is the arrangement of hydrogen bond that plays a decisive role in the cluster stabilities, the zero-point energy is also important, and cluster stabilities are independent on the number of hydrogen bonds; (4) There exist strong cooperativity and superadditivity in the (H2O)n clusters.展开更多
Structural and electronic properties of PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were investigated by density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation at BLYP level in DMol3 program package.The optimized bimetallic Pb...Structural and electronic properties of PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were investigated by density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation at BLYP level in DMol3 program package.The optimized bimetallic PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were viewed as the initial structures,then,those were calculated by ab initio molecular dynamics(AIMD)to search possible global minimum energy structures of PbnAgn clusters,finally,the ground state structures of PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were achieved.According to the structural evolution of lowest energy structures,Ag atoms prefer gather in the central sites while Pb atoms prefer external positions in PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters,which is in excellent agreement with experimental results from literature and the application in metallurgy.The average binding energies,HOMO-LUMO gaps,vertical ionization potentials,vertical electron affinities,chemical hardnessη,HOMO orbits,LUMO orbits and density of states of PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were calculated.The results indicate that the values of HOMO-LUMO gaps,vertical ionization potentials,vertical electron affinities and chemical hardnessηshow obvious odd-even oscillations when n≤5,PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters become less chemically stable and show insulator-to-metal transition with the variation of cluster size n,PbnAgn(n≥9)cluster are good candidates to study the properties of PbAg alloys.Those can be well explained by the density of states(DOS)distributions of Pb atoms and Ag atoms between–0.5 Ha and 0.25 Ha in PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters.展开更多
A systematic study on geometry, electronic structure and vibrational properties of N-doped TiO2 anatase cluster, within the framework of the density functional theory, has been performed in this work. The calculations...A systematic study on geometry, electronic structure and vibrational properties of N-doped TiO2 anatase cluster, within the framework of the density functional theory, has been performed in this work. The calculations confirmed that the most structures in substitutional model consist of a two-coordinate bridge structure and a three-coordinate hollow structure. The calculated results can well explain the red shift in N-doped TiO2 observed in experiments. The study provides an illustration for the N-doped anatase from the viewpoint of chemical bonding theory.展开更多
Here, a series of starburst triphenylamine(WD8) derivatives for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) applications have been designed. The frontier molecular orbitals(FMOs) property, absorption spectra, and charge transfe...Here, a series of starburst triphenylamine(WD8) derivatives for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) applications have been designed. The frontier molecular orbitals(FMOs) property, absorption spectra, and charge transfer rate property of WD8 and its derivatives were simulated. We also evaluated the FMOs energies and absorption spectra of WD8 and its derivatives with the TiO2 cluster. The simulation results show that the phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will increase the HOMO energy, decrease the LUMO energy, and narrow the HOMO-LUMO gap of WD8. The charge injection from WD8 and its derivatives to TiO2 should be more favorable. The phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will decrease the electron and hole injection barriers of WD8. The phenothiazinetriphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will improve the absorption spectra properties of WD8. The absorption spectra of WD8 and its derivatives with the TiO2 cluster would have a red shift. The phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will increase the charge transfer property of WD8.展开更多
The geometry,stability,binding energy and electronic properties of(SiO2)n and Ge(SiO2)n clusters(n = 7) have been investigated by Density functional theory(DFT).The results show that the lowest energy structur...The geometry,stability,binding energy and electronic properties of(SiO2)n and Ge(SiO2)n clusters(n = 7) have been investigated by Density functional theory(DFT).The results show that the lowest energy structures of Ge(SiO2)n are obtained by adding one Ge on the end site of the O atom or the Si near end site of the O atom in(SiO2)n.The chemical activation of Ge-(SiO2)n is improved compared with(SiO2)n.The calculated second-order difference of energies and fragmentation energies show that the Ge(SiO2)n clusters with n = 2 or 5 are stable.展开更多
A visible-light-active photocatalyst was prepared by calcination of the hydrolysis product of tetrabutyl titanate with ammonia as precipitant. The photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis dif...A visible-light-active photocatalyst was prepared by calcination of the hydrolysis product of tetrabutyl titanate with ammonia as precipitant. The photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectra (DRS), thermal gravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM). The color of the photocatalyst was yellow and could absorb light wavelength under 550 nm as measured by DRS. The catalyst calcined at higher temperature will give lower absorbance for visible light. Structures of the sample were characterized mainly to be anatase by XRD except for the sample calcined at 700 ℃ which gave mixtures of anatase and rutile. TG-DTA results showed that temperature for anatase formation was 415 ℃. XPS results showed that doped-nitrogen was presented in the sample, they are important to show visible-light absorbency. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated using methyl orange and phenol as model pollutants, the results showed that over 90% of phenol could be degraded under visible light using N/TiO2 as the catalyst after 4 hours reaction. Almost the same activity was found for the TiO2 photocatalyst calcined at different temperature under sunlight but activities were different when the treatment was under UV light.展开更多
基金partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11404074)
文摘The energetic pathways of adsorption and activation of carbon dioxide (CO2) on low-lying compact (TiO2)n clusters are systematically investigated by using electronic structure calculations based on density-functional theory (DFT). Our calculated results show that CO2 is adsorbed preferably on the bridge O atom of the clusters, forming a "chemisorption" carbonate complex, while the CO is adsorbed preferably to the Ti atom of terminal Ti-O.The computed carbonate vibrational frequency values are in good agreement with the results obtained experimentally, which suggests that CO2 in the complex is distorted slightly from its undeviating linear configuration. In addition, the analyses of electronic parameters, electronic density, ionization potential, HOMO-LUMO gap, and density of states(DOS) confirm the charge transfer and interaction between CO2 and the cluster. From the predicted energy profiles, CO2 can be easily adsorbed and activated, while the activation of CO2 on (TiO2)n clusters are structure-dependent and energetically more favorable than that on the bulk TiO2. Overall, this study critically highlights how the small (TiO2)n clusters can influence the CO2 adsorption and activation which are the critical steps for CO2 reduction the surface of a catalyst and subsequent conversion into industrially relevant chemicals and fuels.
基金ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.20773113 and No.20803072), the Hundred Talent Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the MOE Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team (No.IRT0756), and the MPG-CAS Partner-group Program.
文摘The growth and thermal stability of Au clusters on a partially-reduced rutile TiO2 (110)-1 × 1 surface were investigated by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron- radiation-light. The valence-band photoelectron spectroscopy results demonstrate that the Ti^3+3d feature attenuates quickly with the initial deposition of Au clusters, implying that Au clusters nucleate at the oxygen vacancy sites. The Au4f core-level photoelectron spectroscopy results directly prove the existence of charge transfer from oxygen vacancies to Au clusters. The thermal stability of Au clusters on the partially-reduced and stoichiometric TiO2(110) surfaces was also comparatively investigated by the annealing experiments. With the same film thickness, Au clusters are more thermally stable on the partially-reduced TiO2(110) surface than on the stoichiometric TiO2(110) surface. Meanwhile, large Au nanoparticles are more thermally stable than fine Au nanoparticles.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (90922022)the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (FSKLCC1110)the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province,China (2012J01032,2012J01041)
文摘Oxide-supported transition metal systems have been the subject of enormous interest due to the improvement of catalytic properties relative to the separate metal.Thus in this paper,we embark on a systematic study for Pd n (n=1-5) clusters adsorbed on TiO2 (110) surface based on DFT-GGA calculations utilizing periodic supercell models.A single Pd adatom on the defect-free surface prefers to adsorb at a hollow site bridging a protruded oxygen and a five-fold titanium atom along the [110] direction,while Pd dimer is located on the channels with the Pd-Pd bond parallel to the surface.According to the transition states (TSs) search,the adsorbed Pd trimer tends to triangular growth mode,rather than linear mode,while the Pd4 and Pd5 clusters prefer three-dimensional (3D) models.However,the oxygen vacancy has almost no influence on the promotion of Pd n cluster nucleation.Additionally,of particular significance is that the Pd-TiO2 interaction is the main driving force at the beginning of Pd nucleation,whereas the Pd-Pd interaction gets down to control the growth process of Pd cluster as the cluster gets larger.It is hoped that our theoretical study would shed light on further designing high-performance TiO2 supported Pd-based catalysts.
基金Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Tangshan Teacher’s College (No. 04C06)
文摘The stable configurations and hydrogen bond nature of (H2O)n clusters (n = 3-6) have been investigated by the B3LYP method at the 6-31++g^** level. Upon calculation, four conclusions have been drawn: (1) In the (H2O)3-5 clusters, cyclic configurations were confirmed to be the most stable. But in the (H2O)3-4 ones, only cyclic configurations could be observed. From n = 5 ((H2O)5 clusters), three-dimensional configuration could be found: (2) In the (H2O)6 clusters, all configurations are inclined to be three-dimensional except the most stable configuration which is cyclic; (3) The stable order of (H2O)6 clusters indicates that it is the arrangement of hydrogen bond that plays a decisive role in the cluster stabilities, the zero-point energy is also important, and cluster stabilities are independent on the number of hydrogen bonds; (4) There exist strong cooperativity and superadditivity in the (H2O)n clusters.
基金Project(51664032)supported by the Regional Foundation of the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(51474116)supported by the General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China+5 种基金Project(U1502271)supported by the Joint Foundation of the NSFC-Yunnan Province,ChinaProject(2014HA003)supported by the Cultivating Plan Program for the Leader in Science and Technology of Yunnan Province,ChinaProject(2014RA4018)supported by the Program for Nonferrous Metals Vacuum Metallurgy Innovation Team of Ministry of Science and Technology,ChinaProject(2016YFC0400404)supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of ChinaProject(51504115)supported by the Youth Program of National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(IRT_17R48)supported by the Program for Innovative Research Team in University of Ministry of Education of China
文摘Structural and electronic properties of PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were investigated by density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation at BLYP level in DMol3 program package.The optimized bimetallic PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were viewed as the initial structures,then,those were calculated by ab initio molecular dynamics(AIMD)to search possible global minimum energy structures of PbnAgn clusters,finally,the ground state structures of PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were achieved.According to the structural evolution of lowest energy structures,Ag atoms prefer gather in the central sites while Pb atoms prefer external positions in PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters,which is in excellent agreement with experimental results from literature and the application in metallurgy.The average binding energies,HOMO-LUMO gaps,vertical ionization potentials,vertical electron affinities,chemical hardnessη,HOMO orbits,LUMO orbits and density of states of PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters were calculated.The results indicate that the values of HOMO-LUMO gaps,vertical ionization potentials,vertical electron affinities and chemical hardnessηshow obvious odd-even oscillations when n≤5,PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters become less chemically stable and show insulator-to-metal transition with the variation of cluster size n,PbnAgn(n≥9)cluster are good candidates to study the properties of PbAg alloys.Those can be well explained by the density of states(DOS)distributions of Pb atoms and Ag atoms between–0.5 Ha and 0.25 Ha in PbnAgn(n=2–12)clusters.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20503021)National Basic Research Program of China (2007CB815301)
文摘A systematic study on geometry, electronic structure and vibrational properties of N-doped TiO2 anatase cluster, within the framework of the density functional theory, has been performed in this work. The calculations confirmed that the most structures in substitutional model consist of a two-coordinate bridge structure and a three-coordinate hollow structure. The calculated results can well explain the red shift in N-doped TiO2 observed in experiments. The study provides an illustration for the N-doped anatase from the viewpoint of chemical bonding theory.
基金supported by the Science and Technology Developmental Plan of Jilin Province(No.20170520145JH)
文摘Here, a series of starburst triphenylamine(WD8) derivatives for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) applications have been designed. The frontier molecular orbitals(FMOs) property, absorption spectra, and charge transfer rate property of WD8 and its derivatives were simulated. We also evaluated the FMOs energies and absorption spectra of WD8 and its derivatives with the TiO2 cluster. The simulation results show that the phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will increase the HOMO energy, decrease the LUMO energy, and narrow the HOMO-LUMO gap of WD8. The charge injection from WD8 and its derivatives to TiO2 should be more favorable. The phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will decrease the electron and hole injection barriers of WD8. The phenothiazinetriphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will improve the absorption spectra properties of WD8. The absorption spectra of WD8 and its derivatives with the TiO2 cluster would have a red shift. The phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will increase the charge transfer property of WD8.
基金Project supported by the foundation start up for high level talents of Shihezi university (No. RCZX200747)
文摘The geometry,stability,binding energy and electronic properties of(SiO2)n and Ge(SiO2)n clusters(n = 7) have been investigated by Density functional theory(DFT).The results show that the lowest energy structures of Ge(SiO2)n are obtained by adding one Ge on the end site of the O atom or the Si near end site of the O atom in(SiO2)n.The chemical activation of Ge-(SiO2)n is improved compared with(SiO2)n.The calculated second-order difference of energies and fragmentation energies show that the Ge(SiO2)n clusters with n = 2 or 5 are stable.
文摘A visible-light-active photocatalyst was prepared by calcination of the hydrolysis product of tetrabutyl titanate with ammonia as precipitant. The photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectra (DRS), thermal gravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM). The color of the photocatalyst was yellow and could absorb light wavelength under 550 nm as measured by DRS. The catalyst calcined at higher temperature will give lower absorbance for visible light. Structures of the sample were characterized mainly to be anatase by XRD except for the sample calcined at 700 ℃ which gave mixtures of anatase and rutile. TG-DTA results showed that temperature for anatase formation was 415 ℃. XPS results showed that doped-nitrogen was presented in the sample, they are important to show visible-light absorbency. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated using methyl orange and phenol as model pollutants, the results showed that over 90% of phenol could be degraded under visible light using N/TiO2 as the catalyst after 4 hours reaction. Almost the same activity was found for the TiO2 photocatalyst calcined at different temperature under sunlight but activities were different when the treatment was under UV light.