Multilayer relaxation of body-centred-cubic Fe(211)

Theoretical understanding of the properties of stepped iron surfaces with van der Waals interaction corrections

The stepped surfaces in nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) play an essential role for environmental application. However, there is still currently a deficiency in the atomic understanding of stepped surface properties due to the limitation of the computational methodology. In this study, stepped Fe(210) and (211) surfaces were theoretically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) computations in terms of the flat Fe(110) surface. Our results suggest that the consideration of van der Waals (vdW) interaction correction is beneficial for the DFT study on Fe-based systems. The DF-cx method is found to be the most promising vdW correction method. The DF-cx results reveal that the stepped Fe(210) and Fe(211) surfaces experience significant surface relaxation and abnormal trends in their work function. Their electronic properties and reactivities of the surface atoms are strongly affected by the Fe coordination numbers and the strong adsorption strengths of oxygen on the surfaces are dependent on both the coordination number of the adsorbed atoms and the geometry of the adsorption sites.

The surface relaxation and band structure of Mo(112)

The experimental and theoretical surface band structures of Mo(112) are compared. This surface band structure mapping is presented with corrections included for the lattice relaxation of the Mo(112) surface. Quantitative low energy electron diffraction (LEED) has been used to determine the details of the Mo(112) surface structure. The first layer contraction is 14.9% by LEED intensity versus voltage analysis and is in general agreement with the 17.6% contraction found from total surface energy optimization. The electronic band structure is mapped out along [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] of the surface Brillouin zone (SBZ). There is strong evidence of electron-phonon coupling particularly in the region of the Fermi level band crossing at 0.54 Å(-1).

Rule for structures of open metal surfaces

We present a clear and simple rule for determining the relaxation sequences on open (stepped, vicinal, or high-Miller-index) metal surfaces. At the bulk-truncated configuration of a surface, a surface slab is defined where the coordination of atoms is reduced from the bulk. The rule predicts that the interlayer spacings within this slab contract, while the interlayer spacing between this slab and the substrate expands. By first-principles calculations, we show that this rule is obeyed on all open Cu surfaces with interlayer spacings down to about 0.5 A. We also illustrate a direct relation of the relaxation sequences to the charge redistribution on these surfaces, which is demonstrated to be driving the multilayer relaxations. The applicability of the rule can be extended to other fcc and bcc metals, including unreconstructed and missing-row surfaces.