Adsorption of Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, and Au monomers on NiAl(110) surface: a comparative study from DFT calculations

Hydration of TiO2 Facets Regulates As(III) Adsorption: DFT and DRIFTS Study

Hydration of TiO₂ facets controls the reactions occurring at the mineral-water interfaces. However, the underlying mechanism of the facet-dependent hydration and the effect of hydration on contaminant adsorption are still ambiguous. Herein, arsenite [As(III)] adsorption on hydrated {001}, {100}, {101}, and {201} TiO₂ was explored by integrating multiple characterizations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our macroscopic adsorption results show an As(III) adsorption density order of {201} > {100} > {101} > {001}, though As(III) on each facet formed a bidentate binuclear structure, as evidenced by the extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. The in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy analysis identified distinctive surface hydroxyls on four-faceted TiO₂ upon water adsorption. The hydrated surface regulated the subsequent As(III) adsorption, giving an As(III) adsorption energy order of {201} (-0.95 eV) < {100} (-0.38 eV) < {101} (-0.005 eV) < {001} (0.04 eV) according to DFT calculations. The As(III) adsorption energy on hydrated facets was linearly correlated with the macroscopical As(III) adsorption density (R² = 0.99, p < 0.05), revealing that the impregnable water binding highly suppressed the exchange of As(III) molecules with adsorbed water. Our study provided a novel insight into the facet-dependent interfacial adsorption.

Theoretical Insights into 1D Transition-Metal Nanoalloys Grown on the NiAl(110) Surface

Metallic nanoalloys are essential because of the synergistic effects rather than the merely additive effects of the metal components. Nanoscience is currently able to produce one-atom-thick linear atomic chains (LACs), and the NiAl(110) surface is a well-tested template used to build them. We report the first study based on ab initio density functional theory methods of one-dimensional transition-metal (TM) nanoalloys (i.e., LACs) grown on the NiAl(110) surface. This is a comprehensive and detailed computational study of the effect of alloying groups 10 and 11 metals (Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, and Au) in LACs supported on the NiAl(110) surfaces to elucidate the structural, energetic, and electronic properties. From the TM series studied here, Pt appears to be an energy-stabilization species; meanwhile, Ag has a contrasting behavior. The work function changes because the alloying in LACs was satisfactorily explained from the explicit surface dipole moment calculations using an ab initio calculation-based approach, which captured the electron density redistribution upon building the LAC.