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Li YB, Si R, Wen B, Wei XL, Seriani N, Yin WJ, Gebauer R. The Role of Water Molecules on Polaron Behavior at Rutile (110) Surface: A Constrained Density Functional Theory Study. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:1019-1027. [PMID: 38253014 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Understanding the behavior of a polaron in contact with water is of significant importance for many photocatalytic applications. We investigated the influence of water on the localization and transport properties of polarons at the rutile (110) surface by constrained density functional theory. An excess electron at a dry surface favors the formation of a small polaron at the subsurface Ti site, with a preferred transport direction along the [001] axis. As the surface is covered by water, the preferred spatial localization of the polarons is moved from the subsurface to the surface. When the water coverage exceeds half a monolayer, the preferred direction of polaron hopping is changed to the [110] direction toward the surface. This characteristic behavior is related to the Ti3d-orbital occupations and crystal field splitting induced by different distorted structures under water coverage. Our work describes the reduced sites that might eventually play a role in photocatalysis for rutile (110) surfaces in a water environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Bo Li
- School of Physics and Electronic Science, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensors and Advanced Sensing Materials of Hunan Province, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
| | - Rutong Si
- The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Strada Costiera 11, I-34151 Trieste, Italy
| | - Bo Wen
- School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
| | - Xiao-Lin Wei
- Department of Physics and Laboratory for Quantum Engineering and Micro-Nano Energy Technology, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, Hunan, China
| | - Nicola Seriani
- The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Strada Costiera 11, I-34151 Trieste, Italy
| | - Wen-Jin Yin
- School of Physics and Electronic Science, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
- The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Strada Costiera 11, I-34151 Trieste, Italy
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensors and Advanced Sensing Materials of Hunan Province, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
| | - Ralph Gebauer
- The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Strada Costiera 11, I-34151 Trieste, Italy
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Zhang L, Chu W, Zheng Q, Zhao J. Effects of oxygen vacancies on the photoexcited carrier lifetime in rutile TiO 2. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:4743-4750. [PMID: 35142307 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp04248c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The photoexcited carrier lifetime in semiconductors plays a crucial role in solar energy conversion processes. The defects or impurities in semiconductors are usually proposed to introduce electron-hole (e-h) recombination centers and consequently reduce the photoexcited carrier lifetime. In this report, we investigate the effects of oxygen vacancies (OV) on the carrier lifetime in rutile TiO2, which has important applications in photocatalysis and photovoltaics. It is found that an OV introduces two excess electrons which form two defect states in the band gap. The lower state is localized on one Ti atom and behaves as a small polaron, and the higher one is a hybrid state contributed by three Ti atoms around the OV. Both the polaron and hybrid states exhibit strong electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling and their charge distributions become more and more delocalized when the temperature increases from 100 to 700 K. Such strong e-ph coupling and charge delocalization enhance the nonadibatic coupling between the electronic states along the hole relaxation path, where the defect states behave as intermediate states, leading to a distinct acceleration of e-h recombination. Our study provides valuable insights to understand the role of defects on photoexcited carrier lifetime in semiconductors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Zhang
- Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. .,Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Weibin Chu
- Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. .,Departments of Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Qijing Zheng
- Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
| | - Jin Zhao
- Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
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3
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De Lile JR, Bahadoran A, Zhou S, Zhang J. Polaron in TiO
2
from First‐Principles: A Review. ADVANCED THEORY AND SIMULATIONS 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/adts.202100244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey Roshan De Lile
- Department of physical engineering Polytechnique Montréal Case postal 6079, Station Centre‐ville Montréal Québec H3C 3A7 Canada
- Department of Physics and Regroupement québécois sur les matériaux de pointe Université de Montréal 1375 Ave.Thérèse‐Lavoie‐Roux Montréal QC H2V 0B3 Canada
| | - Ashkan Bahadoran
- State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composite Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai 200240 P. R. China
| | - Su Zhou
- School of Automotive Studies Tongji University Cao'an road Shanghai 201804 P. R. China
| | - Jiujun Zhang
- Institute of Sustainable Energy/College of Sciences Shanghai University Shanghai 200444 P. R. China
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4
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Wang YC, Jiang H. Constrained density functional theory plus the Hubbard U correction approach for the electronic polaron mobility: A case study of TiO2. CHINESE J CHEM PHYS 2021. [DOI: 10.1063/1674-0068/cjcp2108136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yue-Chao Wang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Hong Jiang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
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Zhang L, Chu W, Zhao C, Zheng Q, Prezhdo OV, Zhao J. Dynamics of Photoexcited Small Polarons in Transition-Metal Oxides. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:2191-2198. [PMID: 33630612 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The dynamics of photoexcited polarons in transition-metal oxides (TMOs), including their formation, migration, and quenching, plays an important role in photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Taking rutile TiO2 as a prototypical system, we use ab initio nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the dynamics of small polarons induced by photoexcitation at different temperatures. The photoexcited electron is trapped by the distortion of the surrounding lattice and forms a small polaron within tens of femtoseconds. Polaron migration among Ti atoms is strongly correlated with quenching through an electron-hole (e-h) recombination process. At low temperature, the polaron is localized on a single Ti atom and polaron quenching occurs within several nanoseconds. At increased temperature, as under solar cell operating conditions, thermal phonon excitation stimulates the hopping and delocalization of polarons, which induces fast polaron quenching through the e-h recombination within 200 ps. Our study proves that e-h recombination centers can be formed by photoexcited polarons, which provides new insights to understand the efficiency bottleneck of photocatalysis and photovoltaics in TMOs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Weibin Chu
- Departments of Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | | | | | - Oleg V Prezhdo
- Departments of Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Jin Zhao
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15260, United States
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López-Caballero P, Miret-Artés S, Mitrushchenkov AO, de Lara-Castells MP. Ag 5-induced stabilization of multiple surface polarons on perfect and reduced TiO 2 rutile (110). J Chem Phys 2020; 153:164702. [PMID: 33138404 DOI: 10.1063/5.0029099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The recent advent of cutting-edge experimental techniques allows for a precise synthesis of subnanometer metal clusters composed of just a few atoms, opening new possibilities for subnanometer science. In this work, via first-principles modeling, we show how the decoration of perfect and reduced TiO2 surfaces with Ag5 atomic clusters enables the stabilization of multiple surface polarons. Moreover, we predict that Ag5 clusters are capable of promoting defect-induced polarons transfer from the subsurface to the surface sites of reduced TiO2 samples. For both planar and pyramidal Ag5 clusters, and considering four different positions of bridging oxygen vacancies, we model up to 14 polaronic structures, leading to 134 polaronic states. About 71% of these configurations encompass coexisting surface polarons. The most stable states are associated with large inter-polaron distances (>7.5 Å on average), not only due to the repulsive interaction between trapped Ti3+ 3d1 electrons, but also due to the interference between their corresponding electronic polarization clouds [P. López-Caballero et al., J. Mater. Chem. A 8, 6842-6853 (2020)]. As a result, the most stable ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic arrangements are energetically quasi-degenerate. However, as the average inter-polarons distance decreases, most (≥70%) of the polaronic configurations become ferromagnetic. The optical excitation of the midgap polaronic states with photon energy at the end of the visible region causes the enlargement of the polaronic wave function over the surface layer. The ability of Ag5 atomic clusters to stabilize multiple surface polarons and extend the optical response of TiO2 surfaces toward the visible region bears importance in improving their (photo-)catalytic properties and illustrates the potential of this new generation of subnanometer-sized materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- P López-Caballero
- Instituto de Física Fundamental (AbinitSim Unit), CSIC, Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - S Miret-Artés
- Instituto de Física Fundamental (AbinitSim Unit), CSIC, Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - A O Mitrushchenkov
- MSME, University Gustave Eiffel, CNRS UMR 8208, University Paris Est Creteil, F-77454 Marne-la-Vallée, France
| | - M P de Lara-Castells
- Instituto de Física Fundamental (AbinitSim Unit), CSIC, Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
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7
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting-wei Chen
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Ya-nan Hao
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Yu-chen Ma
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
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8
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Partovi-Azar P, Kaghazchi P. Time-dependent density functional theory study on direction-dependent electron and hole transfer processes in molecular systems. J Comput Chem 2017; 38:698-703. [DOI: 10.1002/jcc.24730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2016] [Revised: 12/10/2016] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pouya Partovi-Azar
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Freie Universität Berlin; Takustr. 3 Berlin 14195 Germany
| | - Payam Kaghazchi
- Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Freie Universität Berlin; Takustr. 3 Berlin 14195 Germany
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