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Garcia JM, Sayres SG. Tuning the photodynamics of sub-nanometer neutral chromium oxide clusters through sequential oxidation. NANOSCALE 2022; 14:7798-7806. [PMID: 35535667 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr00464j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Sub-nanometer neutral chromium oxide clusters were produced in the gas phase through laser ablation and their low-lying excited state lifetimes were measured using femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations relate the trends in experimental lifetimes to the cluster's electronic structure. The photoexcited (CrO2)n (n < 5) cluster transients with the absence of up to four O atoms (CrnO2n-x, x < 5) exhibit a ∼30 fs and sub-ps lifetime, attributed to instantaneous metallic e-e scattering and vibrationally mediated charge carrier relaxation, respectively. A long-lived (>2 ps) response is found in both small and clusters with low O content, indicating that terminal CrO bonds facilitate efficient excited state relaxation. The ∼30 fs transient signal fraction grows nearly linearly with oxidation, matching the amount of O-2p to Cr-3d charge transfer character of the photoexcitation and suggesting a gradual transition between semiconducting and metallic behavior in chromium oxide clusters at the molecular level. The results presented herein suggest that the photocatalytic properties of chromium oxides can be tunable based on size and oxidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob M Garcia
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
- Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Scott G Sayres
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
- Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
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2
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Garcia JM, Sayres SG. Increased Excited State Metallicity in Neutral Cr 2O n Clusters ( n < 5) upon Sequential Oxidation. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:15572-15575. [PMID: 34516101 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c07275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Excited state lifetimes of neutral Cr2On (n < 5) clusters were measured using femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the excited state dynamics are correlated with changes in the cluster's electronic structure with increasing oxidation. Upon absorption of a UV (400 nm) photon, the clusters exhibit features attributed to three separate relaxation processes. All clusters exhibit similar subpicosecond lifetimes, attributed to vibrational relaxation. However, the ∼30 fs transient signal fraction grows linearly with oxidation, matching the amount of O to Cr charge transfer character of the photoexcitation and highlighting a gradual transition between semiconducting and metallic behavior at the molecular level. A long-lived (>2.5 ps) response is recorded only in clusters with significant d-electron character, suggesting that adiabatic relaxation back to the ground state is efficient in heavily oxidized clusters, due to the presence of terminal O atoms. The simple picture of sequential oxidation of Cr2On reveals a linear variation in the contributions of each relaxation component to the total transient signals, therefore opening possibilities for the design of new molecular spintronic materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob M Garcia
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States.,Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
| | - Scott G Sayres
- School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States.,Biodesign Center for Applied Structural Discovery, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
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3
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Barcaro G, Monti S, Sementa L, Carravetta V. Modeling Nucleation and Growth of ZnO Nanoparticles in a Low Temperature Plasma by Reactive Dynamics. J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:2010-2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b01222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Barcaro
- CNR-IPCF, Institute of Chemical and Physical Processes, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Susanna Monti
- CNR-ICCOM, Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Luca Sementa
- CNR-IPCF, Institute of Chemical and Physical Processes, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Carravetta
- CNR-IPCF, Institute of Chemical and Physical Processes, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
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Gaikwad PV, Pujari PK, Kshirsagar A. Effect of Passivation on Stability and Electronic Structure of Bulk-like ZnO Clusters. ACS OMEGA 2018; 3:7692-7702. [PMID: 31458919 PMCID: PMC6644822 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b00998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Electronic structure of nearly stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric clusters of ZnO having bulk-like wurtzite geometry passivated with fictitious hydrogen atoms are comparatively analyzed for structural evolution using density functional theory-based electronic structure calculations. A parameter, average binding energy per atomic number (ABE-number), is introduced for better insight of structural evolution. The stability of a cluster is determined by binding energy per atom and ABE-number, whereas structural evolution on the basis of spin-polarized energy spectrum is studied via site projected partial density of states (l-DOS). The overall structural evolution is mapped for bare and passivated ZnO clusters to l-DOS. The study has established a correlation between the stability of clusters and their l-DOS. O-excess and O-surfaced clusters are found to be more stable. The HOMO-LUMO gap varies from 0 to 6.3 eV by tuning the size, composition, and surface termination of the clusters. Present results reported for clusters of sizes up to ∼1 nm can pave a path for formulating strategies for experimental synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles for tuning the HOMO-LUMO gap.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant V. Gaikwad
- Department
of Physics and Centre for Modeling and Simulation, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, India
- Radiochemistry
Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
| | - Pradeep K. Pujari
- Radiochemistry
Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
| | - Anjali Kshirsagar
- Department
of Physics and Centre for Modeling and Simulation, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, India
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Habib M, Saha S, Sarkar R, Pramanik A, Sarkar P, Pal S. Computational design of some TTF-substituted acene-based dyes for solar cell application using hollow ZnO quantum dot as acceptor. COMPUT THEOR CHEM 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.comptc.2018.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Zaragoza IP, Soriano-Agueda LA, Hernández-Esparza R, Vargas R, Garza J. Analyzing ZnO clusters through the density-functional theory. J Mol Model 2018; 24:164. [PMID: 29909582 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-018-3691-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The potential energy surface of Zn n O n clusters (n = 2, 4, 6, 8) has been explored by using a simulated annealing method. For n = 2, 4, and 6, the CCSD(T)/TZP method was used as the reference, and from here it is shown that the M06-2X/TZP method gives the lowest deviations over PBE, PBE0, B3LYP, M06, and MP2 methods. Thus, with the M06-2X method we predict isomers of Zn n O n clusters, which coincide with some isomers reported previously. By using the atoms in molecules analysis, possible contacts between Zn and O atoms were found for all structures studied in this article. The bond paths involved in several clusters suggest that Zn n O n clusters can be obtained from the zincite (ZnO crystal), such an observation was confirmed for clusters with n = 2 - 9,18 and 20. The structure with n = 23 was obtained by the procedure presented here, from crystal information, which could be important to confirm experimental data delivered for n = 18 and 23.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irineo-Pedro Zaragoza
- División de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Tecnológico Nacional de México Campus Instituto Tecnológico de Tlalnepantla, Av. Mario Colín S/N, La Comunidad, Tlalnepantla de Baz, C.P. 54070, Estado de México, México
| | - Luis-Antonio Soriano-Agueda
- Departamento de Química, División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C. P. 09340, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Raymundo Hernández-Esparza
- Departamento de Química, División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C. P. 09340, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Rubicelia Vargas
- Departamento de Química, División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C. P. 09340, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Jorge Garza
- Departamento de Química, División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C. P. 09340, Ciudad de México, México.
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Jena P, Sun Q. Super Atomic Clusters: Design Rules and Potential for Building Blocks of Materials. Chem Rev 2018; 118:5755-5870. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 302] [Impact Index Per Article: 50.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Puru Jena
- Physics Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284-2000, United States
| | - Qiang Sun
- Physics Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284-2000, United States
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9
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Yong Y, Su X, Zhou Q, Kuang Y, Li X. The Zn 12O 12 cluster-assembled nanowires as a highly sensitive and selective gas sensor for NO and NO 2. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17505. [PMID: 29235489 PMCID: PMC5727522 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17673-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Motivated by the recent realization of cluster-assembled nanomaterials as gas sensors, first-principles calculations are carried out to explore the stability and electronic properties of Zn12O12 cluster-assembled nanowires and the adsorption behaviors of environmental gases on the Zn12O12-based nanowires, including CO, NO, NO2, SO2, NH3, CH4, CO2, O2 and H2. Our results indicate that the ultrathin Zn12O12 cluster-assembled nanowires are particularly thermodynamic stable at room temperature. The CO, NO, NO2, SO2, and NH3 molecules are all chemisorbed on the Zn12O12-based nanowires with reasonable adsorption energies, but CH4, CO2, O2 and H2 molecules are only physically adsorbed on the nanowire. The electronic properties of the Zn12O12-based nanowire present dramatic changes after the adsorption of the NO and NO2 molecules, especially their electric conductivity and magnetic properties, however, the other molecules adsorption hardly change the electric conductivity of the nanowire. Meanwhile, the recovery time of the nanowire sensor at T = 300 K is estimated at 1.5 μs and 16.7 μs for NO and NO2 molecules, respectively. Furthermore, the sensitivities of NO and NO2 are much larger than that of the other molecules. Our results thus conclude that the Zn12O12-based nanowire is a potential candidate for gas sensors with highly sensitivity for NO and NO2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongliang Yong
- College of Physics and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China. .,Henan Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Energy Storage Materials and Applications, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China.
| | - Xiangying Su
- College of Physics and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China.,Henan Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Energy Storage Materials and Applications, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China
| | - Qingxiao Zhou
- College of Physics and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China.,Henan Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Energy Storage Materials and Applications, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanmin Kuang
- Institute of Photobiophysics, School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaohong Li
- College of Physics and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China.,Henan Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Energy Storage Materials and Applications, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People's Republic of China
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Gaikwad PV, Pujari PK, Chakroborty S, Kshirsagar A. Cluster assembly route to a novel octagonal two-dimensional ZnO monolayer. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2017; 29:335501. [PMID: 28738023 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/aa787e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
To explore the possibility of cluster assembly resulting in a two-dimensional (2D) stable monolayer of ZnO, a systematic study is performed on the structural evolution of bare and passivated stoichiometric clusters of [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], using density-functional-theory-based first principles electronic structure calculations. The changes in hybridization are investigated with the aid of the site-projected partial density of states and partial charge density, while the effect of passivation and size on the ionicity of the cluster is studied using Bader charge analysis. The structural and chemical properties are found to be influenced by the coordination number of atoms in the clusters irrespective of the coordinating species. The physical parameters and hybridization of the states for the clusters on passivation resemble those of the bulk. Passivation thus provides an environment that leads to the stability of the clusters. Cluster assembly using the stable cluster geometries of passivated clusters (without the passivating atoms) has been shown to lead to stable 2D structures. This stability has been studied on the basis of binding energy, vibrational frequency, phonon dispersion and thermal properties. A new octagonal 2D monolayer planar geometry of ZnO is predicted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant V Gaikwad
- Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune-411007, India. Radiochemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai-400085, India
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Viñes F, Lamiel-Garcia O, Illas F, Bromley ST. Size dependent structural and polymorphic transitions in ZnO: from nanocluster to bulk. NANOSCALE 2017; 9:10067-10074. [PMID: 28686276 DOI: 10.1039/c7nr02818k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
We report on an extensive survey of (ZnO)N nanostructures ranging from bottom-up generated nanoclusters to top-down nanoparticles cuts from bulk polymorphs. The obtained results enable us to follow the energetic preferences of structure and polymorphism in (ZnO)N systems with N varying between 10-1026. This size range encompasses small nanoclusters with 10s of atoms and nanoparticles with 100s of atoms, which we also compare with appropriate bulk limits. In all cases the nanostructures and bulk systems are optimized using accurate all-electron, relativistic density functional theory based calculations with numeric atom centered orbital basis sets. Specifically, sets of five families of (ZnO)N species are considered: single-layered and multi-layered nanocages, and bulk cut nanoparticles from the sodalite (SOD), body centered tetragonal (BCT), and wurtzite (WZ) ZnO polymorphs. Using suitable fits to interpolate and extrapolate these data allows us to assess the size-dependent energetic stabilities of each family. With increasing size our results indicate a progressive change in energetic stability from single-layered to multi-layered cage-like nanoclusters. For nanoparticles of around 2.6 nm diameter we identify a transitional region where multi-layered cages, SOD, and BCT nanostructures are very similar in energetic stability. This transition size also marks the size regime at which bottom-up nanoclusters give way to top-down bulk-cut nanoparticles. Eventually, a final crossover is found where the most stable WZ-ZnO polymorph begins to energetically dominate at N ∼ 2200. This size corresponds to an approximate nanoparticle diameter of 4.7 nm, in line with experiments reporting the observation of wurtzite crystallinity in isolated ligand-free ZnO nanoparticles of 4-5 nm size or larger.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesc Viñes
- Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física & Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
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Demiroglu I, Woodley SM, Sokol AA, Bromley ST. From monomer to monolayer: a global optimisation study of (ZnO)n nanoclusters on the Ag surface. NANOSCALE 2014; 6:14754-14765. [PMID: 25354937 DOI: 10.1039/c4nr04401k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We employ global optimisation to investigate how oxide nanoclusters of increasing size can best adapt their structure to lower the system energy when interacting with a realistic extended metal support. Specifically, we focus on the (ZnO)@Ag(111) system where experiment has shown that the infinite Ag(111)-supported ZnO monolayer limit corresponds to an epitaxially 7 : 8 matched graphene-like (Zn(3)O(3))-based hexagonal sheet. Using a two-stage search method based on classical interatomic potentials and then on more accurate density functional theory, we report global minina candidate structures for Ag-supported (ZnO)n cluster with sizes ranging from n = 1-24. Comparison with the respective global minina structure of free space (ZnO)n clusters reveals that the surface interaction plays a decisive role in determining the lowest energy Ag-supported (ZnO)n cluster structures. Whereas free space (ZnO)n clusters tend to adopt cage-like bubble structures as they grow larger, Ag-supported (ZnO)n clusters of increasing size become progressively more like planar cuts from the infinite graphene-like ZnO single monolayer. This energetic favourability for planar hexagonal Ag-supported clusters over their 3D counterparts can be partly rationalised by the ZnO-Ag(111) epitaxial matching and the increased number of close interactions with the Ag surface. Detailed analysis shows that this tendency can also be attributed to the capacity of 2D clusters to distort to improve their interaction with the Ag surface relative to more rigid 3D bubble cluster isomers. For the larger sized clusters we find that the adsorption energies and most stable structural types appear to be rather converged confirming that our study makes a bridge between the Ag-supported ZnO monomer and the infinite Ag-supported ZnO monolayer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilker Demiroglu
- Departament de Química Física and Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional, Universitat de Barcelona (IQTCUB), E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
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