Rare gas matrix studies of the products of vaporization of nickel

Low-Lying Electronic States of the Nickel Dimer

The generalized Van Vleck second order multireference perturbation theory (GVVPT2) method was used to investigate the low-lying electronic states of Ni₂. Because the nickel atom has an excitation energy of only 0.025 eV to its first excited state (the least in the first row of transition elements), Ni₂ has a particularly large number of low-lying states. Full potential energy curves (PECs) of more than a dozen low-lying electronic states of Ni₂, resulting from the atomic combinations ³F₄ + ³F₄ and ³D₃ + ³D₃, were computed. In agreement with previous theoretical studies, we found the lowest lying states of Ni₂ to correlate with the ³D₃ + ³D₃ dissociation limit, and the holes in the d-subshells were in the subspace of delta orbitals (i.e., the so-dubbed δδ-states). In particular, the ground state was determined as X ¹Γ_g and had spectroscopic constants: bond length (R_e) = 2.26 Å, harmonic frequency (ω_e) = 276.0 cm⁻¹, and binding energy (D_e) = 1.75 eV; whereas the 1 ¹Σ_g⁺ excited state (with spectroscopic constants: R_e = 2.26 Å, ω_e = 276.8 cm⁻¹, and D_e = 1.75) of the ³D₃ + ³D₃ dissociation channel lay at only 16.4 cm⁻¹ (0.002 eV) above the ground state at the equilibrium geometry. Inclusion of scalar relativistic effects through the spin-free exact two component (sf-X2C) method reduced the bond lengths of both of these two states to 2.20 Å, and increased their binding energies to 1.95 eV and harmonic frequencies to 296.0 cm⁻¹ for X ¹Γ_g and 297.0 cm⁻¹ for 1 ¹Σ_g⁺. These values are in good agreement with experimental values of R_e = 2.1545 ± 0.0004 Å, ω_e = 280 ± 20 cm⁻¹, and D₀ = 2.042 ± 0.002 eV for the ground state. All states considered within the ³F₄ + ³F₄ dissociation channel proved to be energetically high-lying and van der Waals-like in nature. In contrast to most previous theoretical studies of Ni₂, full PECs of all considered electronic states of the molecule were produced.

The electronic structures of small Ni(n) (n=2-4) clusters and their interactions with ethylene and triplet oxygen: a theoretical study

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of small nickel clusters and their interacting systems are carried out using the BLYP and B97-2 methods, after DFT calibration. All bare nickel clusters in this study have high multiplicities and are paramagnetic. Our results for the interactions between ethylene and oxygen with Ni(n) (n=2-4) clusters at different adsorption modes show that for ethylene, π-orientation is preferred, and that oxygen adsorption in a bridge mode is stronger than on-top coordination. Vibrational frequency analysis reveals that the vibrational modes of ethylene π-coordinated to nickel clusters converge toward the corresponding value for surface-bound ethylene, as the cluster size increases from two to four, showing that finite clusters can be used as localized models for ligand adsorption on nickel surfaces. We also calculate DFT global reactivity descriptors, chemical potential and hardness, and use these to predict the relative stability and reactivity of each bare cluster.

Assessment of density functional theory optimized basis sets for gradient corrected functionals to transition metal systems: The case of small Nin (n⩽5) clusters

Density functional calculations have been performed for small nickel clusters, Ni(n), Ni(n) (+), and Ni(n)(-) (n<or=5), using the linear combination of Gaussian-type orbital density functional theory approach. Newly developed nickel all-electron basis sets optimized for generalized gradient approximation (GGA) as well as an all-electron basis set optimized for the local density approximation were employed. For both neutral and charged systems, several isomers and different multiplicities were studied in order to determine the lowest energy structures. A vibrational analysis was performed in order to characterize these isomers. Structural parameters, harmonic frequencies, binding energies, ionization potentials, and electron affinities are reported. This work shows that the employed GGA basis sets for the nickel atom are important for the correct prediction of the ground state structures of small nickel clusters and that the structural assignment of these systems can be performed, with a good resolution, over the ionization potential.