Single d-Metal Atoms on Fs and Fs+ Defects of MgO(001): A Theoretical Study across the Periodic Table

General embedded cluster protocol for accurate modeling of oxygen vacancies in metal-oxides

The O vacancy (Ov) formation energy, EOv, is an important property of a metal-oxide, governing its performance in applications such as fuel cells or heterogeneous catalysis. These defects are routinely studied with density functional theory (DFT). However, it is well-recognized that standard DFT formulations (e.g., the generalized gradient approximation) are insufficient for modeling the Ov, requiring higher levels of theory. The embedded cluster method offers a promising approach to compute EOv accurately, giving access to all electronic structure methods. Central to this approach is the construction of quantum(-mechanically treated) clusters placed within suitable embedding environments. Unfortunately, current approaches to constructing the quantum clusters either require large system sizes, preventing application of high-level methods, or require significant manual input, preventing investigations of multiple systems simultaneously. In this work, we present a systematic and general quantum cluster design protocol that can determine small converged quantum clusters for studying the Ov in metal-oxides with accurate methods, such as local coupled cluster with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations. We apply this protocol to study the Ov in the bulk and surface planes of rutile TiO2 and rock salt MgO, producing the first accurate and well-converged determinations of EOv with this method. These reference values are used to benchmark exchange–correlation functionals in DFT, and we find that all the studied functionals underestimate EOv, with the average error decreasing along the rungs of Jacob’s ladder. This protocol is automatable for high-throughput calculations and can be generalized to study other point defects or adsorbates.

Reconstruction and catalytic activity of hybrid Pd(100)/(111) monolayer on γ-Al2O3(100) in CH4, H2O, and O2 dissociation

The importance of the "heterogeneity" of a Pd monolayer induced by interaction with a semi-ionic support in catalysis was evaluated. The geometry of the Pd monolayer was optimized on the (100) plane of γ-Al2O3 at fixed unit cell parameters defined by the oxide. Simulation of the deposition of a whole Pd monolayer in the flat Pd(100) form cut from the bulk led to the formation of a slightly distorted Pd(111) monolayer. The subsequent chemisorption or dissociation of CH4 or H2O on the Pd(111) layer resulted in a new hybrid Pd(100)/(111) structure containing alternating elements of (100) and (111) planes (the parallel bands of squares and triangles), which are similar for both CH4 and H2O reactions, and two isolated Pd mono-vacancies, respectively. The hybrid Pd(100)/(111) layer without chemisorbed species was found to be more stable than the initial distorted Pd(111) layer. The catalytic capabilities of these monolayer structures were investigated for the dissociation of methane and the water-gas shift reaction (WGSR) due to the lower predicted activation barriers for CH4, H2O, and O2 dissociation on the hybrid Pd(100)/(111) layer compared to that on the pure (bulk) Pd(100) surface. Moreover, the exothermic heats of these reactions were calculated to be moderate instead of endothermic heats on the Pd(100) or Pd(111) surfaces. The heats of H2O and NH3 adsorption on various monolayers were tested, revealing their dependence on Pd atomic charges. The relevance of the model of the heterogeneous Pd monolayer for explaining the maximum reaction rate experimentally observed at different Pd coverages was discussed. The transferability of the geometry and the extent of charge inhomogeneity of the hybrid monolayer without vacancies were also tested on the same γ-Al2O3(100) support for Pt, Rh, and Ag.

Achieving tunable chemical reactivity through photo-initiation of energetic materials at metal oxide surfaces

Known applications of high energy density materials are impressively vast. Despite this, we argue that energetic materials are still underutilized for common energy purposes due to our inability to control explosive chemical reactions releasing energy from these materials. The situation appears paradoxical as energetic materials (EM) possess massive amounts of energy and, hence, should be most appropriate for applications in many energy-intensive processes. Here, we discover how chemical decomposition reactions can be stimulated with laser excitation and therefore, highly controlled by selectively designing energetic material - metal oxide interfaces with an example of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN)-MgO and trinitrotoluene (TNT)-MgO composite samples. Density functional theory and embedded cluster method calculations were combined with measurements of the optical absorption spectra and laser initiation experiments. We found that the first (1064 nm, 1.17 eV), second (532 nm, 2.33 eV), and third (355 nm, 3.49 eV) laser harmonics, to all of which pure energetic materials are transparent, can be effectively used to trigger explosive reactions in the PETN-MgO samples. We propose a consistent electronic mechanism that explains how specific sub-band optical transitions initiate decomposition chemistry. Also, this selectivity reveals a fundamental difference between materials chemistry at interfaces as we show on examples of PETN and TNT energetic materials.

Ultrasmall Silver Clusters Stabilized on MgO for Robust Oxygen-Promoted Hydrogen Production from Formaldehyde Reforming

Efficient molecular hydrogen generation from renewable biomass-derived resources and water is of great importance to the sustainable development of the future society. Herein, ultrasmall Ag nanoclusters supported on a defect-rich MgO matrix (AgUCs/MgO) are synthesized by a facile impregnation/calcination method and are applied to robust oxygen-promoted formaldehyde reforming into H₂ at room temperature. Density functional theory calculations and experimental observations show that the catalyst spatially builds up a channel for directional electron transfer from electron-rich Ag sites to the anti-bonding π orbital of chemisorbed bridged O₂ molecules, leading to the implementation of low-temperature O₂ adsorption and activation. The catalytically active species, ^•OOH, is thus selectively generated via a preferential two-electron reduction of O₂ with a low energy barrier on Ag sites, involving an unusual long-range proton-coupled electron transfer process. The ^•OOH-AgUCs/MgO active center is efficient for the subsequent C-H activation and H₂ generation, leading to a 3-fold improvement of the turnover frequency as compared with its analogous AgNPs/MgO catalyst. Our atomic-level design and synthetic strategy provide a platform that facilitates the construction of an electron-proton transfer channel for catalysis, altered adsorption configurations of activated reactants, and enhancement of catalytic hydrogen generation activity, extending a promising direction for the development of next-generation energy catalysts.

First-Principle Investigations of the Interaction between CO and O2 with Group 11 Atoms on a Defect-Free MgO(001) Surface

In this contribution, we investigate the interaction between CO and O₂ with metal atoms of group 11 deposited on a defect-free magnesium oxide surface using density functional theory with periodic point charge embedding. We present the first transversal study of the adsorption and coadsorption of CO and O₂ on coinage metal adatoms deposited on metal oxide surfaces from the perspective of single-atom catalysis. Various analysis tools shed light on the binding situation of the metal atoms to the substrate as well as on the situation of the two molecules on the different metal centers. Our analysis demonstrates that cooperative electronic effects enhance the stability of CO upon coadsorption with O₂ for all three metal centers. Our results also explain the lack of catalytic activity of group 11 metal atoms with respect to CO oxidation under thermal conditions as a competition between OC-O₂ bond activation and surface diffusion, leading to metal atom agglomeration. Additionally, it is shown how coadsorption of CO and O₂ on Au/Mg(001) could pave the way to single-atom photocatalysis.

Identification of activity trends for CO oxidation on supported transition-metal single-atom catalysts

Identification of activity trends for CO oxidation on transition-metal single-atom catalysts by using E_ad(CO) and E_ad(O₂) as descriptors.

Oxide-based nanomaterials for fuel cell catalysis: the interplay between supported single Pt atoms and particles

Nanomaterials coated with atomically dispersed platinum on ceria are structurally dynamic and show high potential for applications in fuel cells.

A first-principles theoretical approach to heterogeneous nanocatalysis

A theoretical approach to heterogeneous catalysis by sub-nanometre supported metal clusters and alloys is presented and discussed. Its goal is to perform a computational sampling of the reaction paths in nanocatalysis via a global search in the phase space of structures and stoichiometry combined with filtering which takes into account the given experimental conditions (catalytically relevant temperature and reactant pressure), and corresponds to an incremental exploration of the disconnectivity diagram of the system. The approach is implemented and applied to the study of propylene partial oxidation by Ag(3) supported on MgO(100). First-principles density-functional theory calculations coupled with a Reactive Global Optimization algorithm are performed, finding that: (1) the presence of an oxide support drastically changes the potential energy landscape of the system with respect to the gas phase, favoring configurations which interact positively with the electrostatic field generated by the surface; (2) the reaction energy barriers for the various mechanisms are crucial in the competition between thermodynamically and kinetically favored reaction products; (3) a topological database of structures and saddle points is produced which has general validity and can serve for future studies or for deriving general trends; (4) the MgO(100) surface captures some major features of the effect of an oxide support and appears to be a good model of a simple oxide substrate; (5) strong cooperative effects are found in the co-adsorption of O(2) and other ligands on small metal clusters. The proposed approach appears as a viable route to advance the role of predictive computational science in the field of heterogeneous nanocatalysis.

Direct measurement of the attractive interaction forces on F0 color centers on MgO(001) by dynamic force microscopy

Defect sites on oxide surfaces play a dominant role in surface chemistry. The direct atomistic study of these sites is important but very difficult. We have mimicked the adsorbate-defect interaction by a dynamic force microscope tip measuring the interaction with a color center (F(0)) on the MgO(001) surface. The experimental findings, complemented by density functional theory calculations, show a highly attractive adsorbate-defect interaction and a charge transfer at a critical distance.

Does the MgO(100)-support facilitate the reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen molecules catalyzed by Zr2Pd2 clusters? A computational study

Reactions of the "naked" and MgO(100) supported Zr(2)Pd(2) cluster with nitrogen and four hydrogen molecules were studied at the density functional level using the periodic slab approach (VASP). It was shown that adsorption of the Zr(2)Pd(2) cluster on the MgO(100) surface does not change its gas-phase geometry and electronic structure significantly. In spite of this the N(2) coordination to the MgO(100)-supported Zr(2)Pd(2) cluster, I/MgO, is found to be almost 30 kcal/mol less favorable than for the "naked" one. The addition of the first H(2) molecule to the resulting II/MgO, that is, II/MgO + H(2) --> IV/MgO reaction, proceeds with a relatively small, 9.0 kcal/mol, barrier and is exothermic by 8.3 kcal/mol. The same reaction for the "naked" Zr(2)Pd(2) cluster requires a slightly larger barrier (10.1 kcal/mol) and is highly exothermic (by 23.3 kcal/mol). The interaction of the H(2) molecule with the intermediate IV/MgO (i.e., the second H(2) molecule addition to II/MgO) requires larger energy barrier, 23.3 kcal/mol vs 8.8 kcal/mol for the "naked" cluster, and is exothermic by 20.5 kcal/mol (vs 18.2 kcal/mol reported for the "naked" Zr(2)Pd(2) cluster). The addition of the H(2) molecule to VI/MgO and VI (i.e., the third H(2) molecule addition to II/MgO and II, respectively) requires similar barriers, 12.0 versus 16.8 kcal/mol, respectively, but is highly exothermic for the supported cluster compared to the "naked" one, 13.6 versus 0.1 kcal/mol. The addition of the fourth H(2) molecule occurs with almost twice larger barrier for the "naked" cluster compared to the adsorbed species, 30.7 versus 15.9 kcal/mol. Furthermore, this reaction step is endothermic (by 11.4 kcal/mol) for the gas-phase cluster but exothermic by 7.8 kcal/mol for the adsorbed cluster. Dissociation of the formed hydrazine molecule from the on-surface complex X/MgO and the "naked" complex X requires 19.1 and 26.3 kcal/mol, respectively. Thus, the Zr(2)Pd(2) adsorption on the MgO(100) surface facilitates its reaction with N(2) and four H(2) molecules, as well as formation of hydrazine from the hydrogen and nitrogen molecules. The reported differences in the reactivity of the "naked" and MgO adsorbed Zr(2)Pd(2) clusters were explained by analyzing the nature of the H(2) addition steps in these systems.

Diffusion of adatoms and small clusters on magnesium oxide surfaces

The diffusion of isolated adatoms and small clusters is reviewed for transition and noble metals adsorbed on the (001) surface of magnesium oxide. While isolated adatoms diffuse by hopping among adsorption sites, small clusters such as dimers, trimers and tetramers already display a variety of diffusion mechanisms, from cluster hopping to rotation, sliding, leapfrog, walking, concertina, flipping, twisting, rolling and rocking. Since most of the available results are computational, the review is mostly related to theoretical work. Connection to experiments is discussed where possible, mostly by dealing with the consequences that adatom and small cluster mobility may have on the growth of larger aggregates on the MgO(001) surface.

Modeling doped and defective oxides in catalysis with density functional theory methods: room for improvements

Due to the well-known problem of the self-interaction, standard density functional theory (DFT) methods tend to produce delocalized holes and electrons in defective oxide materials even when there is ample experimental evidence of a strong localization. For late transition metal compounds or rare earth oxides, this results in the incorrect description of the electronic structure of the system (e.g., magnetic insulators are predicted to be metallic). Practical ways to correct this deficiency are based on the use of hybrid functionals or of the DFT+U approach. In this way, most of the limitations related to the self-interaction are removed, and the electronic structure is properly described. What is less clear is to what extent hybrid functionals, DFT+U approaches, or standard DFT functionals can properly describe the strength of the chemical bonds at the surface of an oxide. This is a crucial question if one is interested in the catalytic properties of oxide surfaces. Oxidation reactions often involve oxygen detachment from the surface and incorporation into an organic substrate. Oxides are doped with heteroatoms to create defects and facilitate oxygen removal from the surface, with formation of oxygen vacancies. Do standard DFT calculations provide a good binding energy of the missing oxygen despite the failure in giving the right electronic structure? Can hybrid functionals or the DFT+U approach provide a simple yet reliable way to get accurate reaction enthalpies and energy barriers? In this essay, we discuss these problems by analyzing some case histories and the relatively scarce data existing in the literature. The conclusion is that while modern electronic structure methods accurately reproduce and predict a wide range of electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of oxides, the description of the strength of chemical bonds still needs considerable improvements.

Density-functional model cluster studies of EPR g tensors of Fs+ centers on the surface of MgO

We report g tensors of surface color centers, so-called F(s) (+) centers, of MgO calculated with two density-functional approaches using accurately embedded cluster models. In line with recent UHV measurements on single-crystalline MgO film, we determined only small g-tensor anisotropies and negative shifts Deltag identical with g-g(e) for all F(s) (+) sites considered, namely, (001)-terrace, step, edge, and corner sites. The g values are very sensitive to the local structure of the defect: relaxation reverses the sign of Deltag. However, accounting for the spin-orbit interaction either self-consistently or perturbatively yields very similar results. In addition to the values of the tensor components, their direction with respect to the surface was determined. In contrast to edges, significant deviations from ideal C(2v) symmetry were found for F(s) (+) centers at steps. Recent data on single-crystalline thin films are reevaluated in the light of these results.

Structure of Ag Clusters Grown on Fs-Defect Sites of an MgO(1 0 0) Surface

The structure of AgN clusters (N=1-4, 6, 8, 10), both in the gas phase and grown on the MgO(1 0 0) surface containing Fs-defects, has been investigated by a density functional basin-hopping (DF-BH) approach. In analogy with what observed in the case of gold clusters, it is found that the presence of the defect implies a double frustration and a cylindrical invariance of the metal-surface interaction, causing small Ag clusters growing around the Fs defect to be highly fluxional. Nevertheless, two different structural crossovers are found to be induced by the metal-defect interaction for the adsorbed clusters such that: 1) planar structures prevail for N<or=4 (as in the gas phase); 2) noncrystalline (fivefold symmetric) structures, which are the lowest energy ones in the gas phase for medium sized AgN clusters (N>or=7), prevail for N=6 and N=8; 3) distorted face-centered cubic (fcc) structures grown pseudomorphically on the defected surface prevail for N=10. The transition from fivefold to fcc motifs is rationalized in terms of the double-frustration effect, which increases the bond strain of the noncrystalline structures. Detrapping energies from the defect were also calculated; the lowest energy pathway corresponds to the detachment of a dimer.

Optical Spectra of Cu, Ag, and Au Monomers and Dimers at Regular Sites and Oxygen Vacancies of the MgO(001) Surface. A Systematic Time-Dependent Density Functional Study Using Embedded Cluster Models

Polarization-resolved optical spectra of coinage metal monomers and dimers Mn (M=Cu, Ag, Au; n=1, 2) at ideal O2- sites of MgO(001) as well as at oxygen vacancies, Fs and Fs+, of that surface were established using a computational approach based on linear response time-dependent density functional theory. Calculations were performed for structures determined by applying a generalized-gradient density functional method to cluster models embedded in an elastic polarizable environment. This embedding scheme provides an accurate description of substrate relaxation and long-range electrostatic interaction. We compared the optical properties of adsorbed atoms and dimers with those of the corresponding gas-phase species and we systematically analyzed trends among congeners.

Density Functional Embedded Cluster Study of Cu4, Ag4and Au4Species Interacting with Oxygen Vacancies on the MgO(001) Surface

Cu(4), Ag(4), and Au(4) species adsorbed on an MgO(001) surface that exhibits neutral (F(s)) and charged (F(s) (+)) oxygen vacancies have been studied using a density functional approach and advanced embedding models. The gas-phase rhombic-planar structure of the coinage metal tetramers is only moderately affected by adsorption. In the most stable surface configuration, the plane of the tetramers is oriented perpendicular to the MgO(001) surface; one metal atom is attached to an oxygen vacancy and another one is bound to a nearby surface oxygen anion. A very similar structural motif was recently found on defect-free MgO(001), where two O(2-) ions serve as adsorption sites. Following the trend of the interactions with the regular MgO(001) surface, Au(4) and Cu(4) bind substantially stronger to F(s) and F(s) (+) sites than Ag(4). This stronger adsorption interaction at oxygen vacancies, in particular at F(s), is partly due to a notable accumulation of electron density on the adsorbates. We also examined the propensity of small supported metal species to aggregate to adsorbed di-, tri- and tetramers. Furthermore, we demonstrated that core-level ionization potentials offer the possibility for detecting experimentally supported metal tetramers and characterizing them structurally with the help of calculated data.

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Investigations on the Formation of F+ and F0 Color Centers on the Surface of Thin MgO(001) Films

The formation of surface color centers (F(S) centers) by electron bombardment of thin MgO(001) films is investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance and low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. At low electron doses both techniques indicate the formation of singly occupied color centers (F(S)(+)), whereas at high electron doses the doubly occupied type (F(S)(0)) is dominant. It is suggested that with increasing electron dose F(S)(+) centers are transformed into F(S)(0). Tunneling spectra of individual F(S)(0) centers reveal a large distribution of energetic positions of occupied and unoccupied states, which is caused by local variations of the coordination number of the defects and explains the broad signals usually detected with integrating spectroscopic techniques.