High-dimensional quantum dynamical study of the dissociation of H2 on Pd(110)

Dynamics of H2 dissociation on the 1/2 ML c(2 × 2)-Ti/Al(100) surface

The dissociation of H(2) on Ti-covered Al surfaces is relevant to the rehydrogenation and dehydrogenation of the NaAlH(4) hydrogen storage material. The energetically most stable structure for a 1/2 monolayer of Ti deposited on the Al(100) surface has the Ti atoms in the second layer with a c(2 × 2) structure, as has been confirmed by both low-energy electron diffraction and low-energy ion scattering experiments and density functional theory studies. In this work, we investigate the dynamics of H(2) dissociation on a slab model of this Ti/Al(100) surface. Two six-dimensional potential energy surfaces (PESs) have been built for this H(2) + Ti/Al(100) system, based on the density functional theory PW91 and RPBE exchange-correlation functionals. In the PW91 (RPBE) PES, the lowest H(2) dissociation barrier is found to be 0.65 (0.84) eV, with the minimum energy path occurring for H(2) dissociating above the bridge to top sites. Using both PESs, H(2) dissociation probabilities are calculated using the classical trajectory (CT), the quasi-classical trajectory (QCT), and the time-dependent wave-packet methods. We find that the QCT H(2) dissociation probabilities are in good agreement with the quantum dynamics results in the collision energy range studied up to 1.0 eV. We have also performed molecular beam simulations and present predictions for molecular beam experiments. Our molecular beam simulations show that H(2) dissociation on the 1/2 ML Ti/Al(100) surface is an activated process, and the reaction probability is found to be 6.9% for the PW91 functional and 1.8% for the RPBE at a nozzle temperature of 1700 K. Finally, we have also calculated H(2) dissociation rate constants by applying transition state theory and the QCT method, which could be relevant to modeling Ti-catalyzed rehydrogenation and dehydrogenation of NaAlH(4).

SIX-DIMENSIONAL DYNAMICS OF DISSOCIATIVE CHEMISORPTION OF H2 ON METAL SURFACES

The theory of time-dependent quantum dynamics of dissociative chemisorption of hydrogen on metal surfaces is reviewed, in the framework of electronically adiabatic scattering from static surfaces. Four implementations of the time-dependent wave packet (TDWP) method are discussed. In the direct product pseudo-spectral and the spherical harmonics pseudo-spectral methods, no use is made of the symmetry associated with the surface unit cell. This symmetry is exploited by the symmetry adapted wave packet and the symmetry adapted pseudo-spectral (SAPS) method, which are efficient for scattering at normal incidence. The SAPS method can be employed for potential energy surfaces of general form.

Comparison to experiment shows that the TDWP method yields good, but not yet excellent, quantitative accuracy for dissociation of (ν = 0, j = 0) H 2 if the calculations are based on accurately fitted density functional theory calculations that are performed using the generalized gradient approximation. The influence of the molecule's vibration (rotation) is well (reasonably well) described. The theory does not yet yield quantitatively accurate results for rovibrationally inelastic scattering. The theory has helped with the interpretation of existing experimental results, for instance, by solving a parodox regarding the corrugation of Pt(111) as seen by reacting and scattering H 2. The theory has also provided some exciting new predictions, for instance, concerning where on the surface of Cu(100) H2 reacts depending on its vibrational state. Future theoretical studies of H 2 reacting on metal surfaces will likely be aimed at validating GGAs for molecule-surface interactions, and understanding trends in collisions of H 2 with complex metal surfaces.

Dissociative chemisorption of H2 on the Cu(110) surface: a quantum and quasiclassical dynamical study

Six-dimensional quantum dynamical and quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) calculations are reported for the reaction and vibrationally inelastic scattering of (v = 0,1,j = 0) H(2) scattering from Cu(110), and for the reaction and rovibrationally elastic and inelastic scattering of (v = 1,j = 1) H(2) scattering from Cu(110). The dynamics results were obtained using a potential energy surface obtained with density functional theory using the PW91 functional. The reaction probabilities computed with quantum dynamics for (v = 0,1,j = 0) were in excellent agreement with the QCT results obtained earlier for these states, thereby validating the QCT approach to sticking of hydrogen on Cu(110). The vibrational de-excitation probability P(v=1,j = 0 --> v = 0) computed with the QCT method is in remarkably good agreement with the quantum dynamical results for normal incidence energies E(n) between 0.2 and 0.6 eV. The QCT result for the vibrational excitation probability P(v = 0,j = 0 --> v = 1) is likewise accurate for E(n) between 0.8 and 1 eV, but the QCT method overestimates vibrational excitation for lower E(n). The QCT method gives probabilities for rovibrationally (in)elastic scattering, P(v = 1,j = 1 --> v('),j(')), which are in remarkably good agreement with quantum dynamical results. The rotationally averaged, initial vibrational state-selective reaction probability obtained with QCT agrees well with the initial vibrational state-selective reaction probability extracted from molecular beam experiments for v = 1, for the range of collision energies for which the v=1 contribution to the measured total sticking probability dominates. The quantum dynamical probabilities for rovibrationally elastic scattering of (v = 1,j = 1) H(2) from Cu(110) are in good agreement with experiment for E(n) between 0.08 and 0.25 eV.

Ab initio based tight-binding molecular dynamics simulation of the sticking and scattering of O2∕Pt(111)

The sticking and scattering of O(2)Pt(111) has been studied by tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations based on an ab initio potential energy surface. We focus, in particular, on the sticking probability as a function of the angle of incidence and the energy and angular distributions in scattering. Our simulations provide an explanation for the seemingly paradox experimental findings that adsorption experiments suggest that the O(2)Pt(111) interaction potential should be strongly corrugated while scattering experiments indicate a rather small corrugation. The potential energy surface is indeed strongly corrugated which leads to a pronounced dependence of the sticking probability on the angle of incidence. The scattered O(2) molecules, however, experience a rather flat surface due to the fact that they are predominantly scattered at the repulsive tail of the potential.

The role of molecular rotation in activated dissociative adsorption on metal surfaces

The role of molecular rotation in dissociative adsorption of H2 on the activated NiAl(110) metal surface is systematically investigated by means of classical dynamics calculations performed on ab initio six-dimensional potential energy surfaces. The calculations show that molecules rotate abruptly when they are close to the surface and that this rotation allows the molecules to adopt the orientation that is more convenient for dissociation (i.e., nearly parallel to the surface). Also, in reactive sectors of the NiAl(110) unit cell, there is an "angular threshold" below which molecules cannot dissociate. This angular threshold goes down as the incidence energy increases, which explains the rise of the dissociation probability and the fact that it reaches a value close to 1 at incidence energies of the order of 2 eV. The fact that switching on molecular rotation favors dissociation establishes a competition between dissociation and rotational excitation of reflected molecules above the dissociation threshold. Measurements on rotational excitation might thus bring indirect evidence on the dissociation dynamics. Sample calculations for nonactivated Pd(111) and activated Cu(110) metal surfaces suggest that some of these conclusions may be of general validity.