High-Throughput Screening of the Thermoelastic Properties of Ultrahigh-Temperature Ceramics.

Ultrahigh-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are a group of materials with high technological interest because of their applications in extreme environments. However, their characterization at high temperatures represents the main obstacle for their fast development. Obstacles are found from an experimental point of view, where only few laboratories around the world have the resources to test these materials under extreme conditions, and also from a theoretical point of view, where actual methods are expensive and difficult to apply to large sets of materials. Here, a new theoretical high-throughput framework for the prediction of the thermoelastic properties of materials is introduced. This approach can be systematically applied to any kind of crystalline material, drastically reducing the computational cost of previous methodologies up to 80% approximately. This new approach combines Taylor expansion and density functional theory calculations to predict the vibrational free energy of any arbitrary strained configuration, which represents the bottleneck in other methods. Using this framework, elastic constants for UHTCs have been calculated in a wide range of temperatures with excellent agreement with experimental values, when available. Using the elastic constants as the starting point, other mechanical properties such a bulk modulus, shear modulus, or Poisson ratio have been also explored, including upper and lower limits for polycrystalline materials. Finally, this work goes beyond the isotropic mechanical properties and represents one of the most comprehensive and exhaustive studies of some of the most important UHTCs, charting their anisotropy and thermal and thermodynamical properties.

Comprehensive Experimental and Theoretical Study of the CO + NO Reaction Catalyzed by Au/Ni Nanoparticles.

The catalytic and structural properties of five different nanoparticle catalysts with varying Au/Ni composition were studied by six different methods, including in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The as-prepared materials contained substantial amounts of residual capping agent arising from the commonly used synthetic procedure. Thorough removal of this material by oxidation was essential for the acquisition of valid catalytic data. All catalysts were highly selective toward N2 formation, with 50-50 Au:Ni material being best of all. In situ X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy showed that although Au acted to moderate the oxidation state of Ni, there was no clear correlation between catalytic activity and nickel oxidation state. However, in situ extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy showed a good correlation between Au-Ni coordination number (highest for Ni50Au50) and catalytic activity. Importantly, these measurements also demonstrated substantial and reversible Au/Ni intermixing as a function of temperature between 550 °C (reaction temperature) and 150 °C, underlining the importance of in situ methods to the correct interpretation of reaction data. DFT calculations on smooth, stepped, monometallic and bimetallic surfaces showed that N + N recombination rather than NO dissociation was always rate-determining and that the activation barrier to recombination reaction decreased with increased Au content, thus accounting for the experimental observations. Across the entire composition range, the oxidation state of Ni did not correlate with activity, in disagreement with earlier work, and theory showed that NiO itself should be catalytically inert. Au-Ni interactions were of paramount importance in promoting N + N recombination, the rate-limiting step.

Graphene Translucency and Interfacial Interactions in the Gold/Graphene/SiC System.

Integration of graphene into electronic circuits through its joining with conventional metal electrodes (i.e., gold) appears to be one of the main technological challenges nowadays. To gain insight into this junction, we have studied the physicochemical interactions between SiC-supported graphene and a drop of molten gold. Using appropriate high-temperature experimental conditions, we perform wetting experiments and determine contact angles for gold drops supported on graphene epitaxially grown on 4H-SiC. The properties of the metal/graphene interface are analyzed using a wide variety of characterization techniques, along with computational simulations based on density functional theory. In contrast with the established literature, our outcomes clearly show that graphene is translucent in the gold/graphene/SiC interface, and therefore its integration into electronic circuits primarily depends on the right choice of the support to produce favorable wetting interactions with liquid gold.

Adsorption of Prototypical Asphaltenes on Silica: First-Principles DFT Simulations Including Dispersion Corrections.

In this work, we explore the interaction between some prototypical asphaltene and porphyrin molecules with a fully hydroxylated (0001) surface of α-quartz by means of theoretical calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) under periodic boundary conditions. The influence of dispersion forces, adsorption geometries, and size of the side chain is analyzed. The inclusion of London dispersion forces is overriding as they increase the interaction by about 1 order of magnitude. All of the considered molecules strongly interact with the hydroxylated surface and prefer to adsorb in a parallel position instead of vertically. It is also found that adsorption energy always increases with larger side chains because dispersion interactions also augment. Interestingly, in the case of porphyrin, the less stable isomer in the gas phase is the preferred one after adsorption, which is substantiated by a differential stabilization induced by the surface. Finally, we present a comparative study of the adsorption of these model molecules in terms of energy per area unit and energy per interacting π electron.

Ag2S Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells by First Principles: The Effect of Capping Ligands and Linkers.

Quantum dots solar cells, QDSCs, are one of the candidates for being a reliable alternative to fossil fuels. However, the well-studied CdSe and CdTe-based QDSCs present a variety of issues for their use in consumer-goods applications. Silver sulfide, Ag2S, is a promising material, but poor efficiency has been reported for QDSCs based on this compound. The potential influence of each component of QDSCs is critical and key for the development of more efficient devices based on Ag2S. In this work, density functional theory calculations were performed to study the nature of the optoelectronic properties for an anatase-TiO2(101) surface sensitized with different silver sulfide nanoclusters. We demonstrated how it is possible to deeply tune of its electronic properties by modifying the capping ligands and linkers to the surface. Finally, an analysis of the electron injection mechanism for this system is presented.

Potassium and Water Coadsorption on TiO2(110): OH-Induced Anchoring of Potassium and the Generation of Single-Site Catalysts.

Potassium deposition on TiO2(110) results in reduction of the substrate and formation of loosely bound potassium species that can move easily on the oxide surface to promote catalytic activity. The results of density functional calculations predict a large adsorption energy (∼3.2 eV) with a small barrier (∼0.25 eV) for diffusion on the oxide surface. In scanning tunneling microscopy images, the adsorbed alkali atoms lose their mobility when in contact with surface OH groups. Furthermore, K adatoms facilitate the dissociation of water on the titania surface. The K-(OH) species generated are good sites for the binding of gold clusters on the TiO2(110) surface, producing Au/K/TiO2(110) systems with high activity for the water-gas shift.

Inverse Oxide/Metal Catalysts in Fundamental Studies and Practical Applications: A Perspective of Recent Developments.

Inverse oxide/metal catalysts have shown to be excellent systems for studying the role of the oxide and oxide-metal interface in catalytic reactions. These systems can have special structural and catalytic properties due to strong oxide-metal interactions difficult to attain when depositing a metal on a regular oxide support. Oxide phases that are not seen or are metastable in a bulk oxide can become stable in an oxide/metal system opening the possibility for new chemical properties. Using these systems, it has been possible to explore fundamental properties of the metal-oxide interface (composition, structure, electronic state), which determine catalytic performance in the oxidation of CO, the water-gas shift and the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. Recently, there has been a significant advance in the preparation of oxide/metal catalysts for technical or industrial applications. One goal is to identify methods able to control in a precise way the size of the deposited oxide particles and their structure on the metal substrate.

Sonogashira cross-coupling and homocoupling on a silver surface: chlorobenzene and phenylacetylene on Ag(100).

Scanning tunneling microscopy, temperature-programmed reaction, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations were used to study the adsorption and reactions of phenylacetylene and chlorobenzene on Ag(100). In the absence of solvent molecules and additives, these molecules underwent homocoupling and Sonogashira cross-coupling in an unambiguously heterogeneous mode. Of particular interest is the use of silver, previously unexplored, and chlorobenzene-normally regarded as relatively inert in such reactions. Both molecules adopt an essentially flat-lying conformation for which the observed and calculated adsorption energies are in reasonable agreement. Their magnitudes indicate that in both cases adsorption is predominantly due to dispersion forces for which interaction nevertheless leads to chemical activation and reaction. Both adsorbates exhibited pronounced island formation, thought to limit chemical activity under the conditions used and posited to occur at island boundaries, as was indeed observed in the case of phenylacetylene. The implications of these findings for the development of practical catalytic systems are considered.

Catalysis. Highly active copper-ceria and copper-ceria-titania catalysts for methanol synthesis from CO2.

The transformation of CO2 into alcohols or other hydrocarbon compounds is challenging because of the difficulties associated with the chemical activation of CO2 by heterogeneous catalysts. Pure metals and bimetallic systems used for this task usually have low catalytic activity. Here we present experimental and theoretical evidence for a completely different type of site for CO2 activation: a copper-ceria interface that is highly efficient for the synthesis of methanol. The combination of metal and oxide sites in the copper-ceria interface affords complementary chemical properties that lead to special reaction pathways for the CO2→CH3OH conversion.

First-principles molecular dynamics simulations of the H2O/Cu(111) interface.

A first-principles theoretical study of the water-Cu(111) interface based on density functional calculations is reported. Using differently sized surface models: p(2 × 2), p(4 × 4) and p(4 × 5), we found out that the adsorption energy of a H(2)O monomer does not significantly change with the surface model though the adsorption geometry is sensitive to the choice of the super-cell surface and, also, to the coverage. Molecular dynamics simulations on the Born-Oppenheimer surface of liquid water on a Cu(111) surface reveal that H(2)O in the first solvent layer adsorbs O-down and that the H-bond network is weaker upon adsorption on the Cu. Furthermore, absolute electrochemical potentials are presented and compared to the potential of zero charge obtained experimentally and theoretically.

First-principles study of ionic oxygen mobility of Sr-containing LaAlO(3) perovskite.

The fundamental phenomena underlying the electrical conduction properties of Sr-containing LaAlO(3) perovskites are studied through DFT simulations. The most energetically favourable substitution sites for Sr in the LaAlO(3) lattice and the energetic barriers for oxygen diffusion were calculated. Ab initio molecular dynamics was used to investigate the onset of oxygen transport. Experimental characterization of this material has suggested the existence of undercoordinated Al atoms upon substitution of La with Sr. Our results confirm the existence of four-  (Al(IV)) and fivefold (Al(V))-coordinated Al at the expense of the amount of sixfold-coordinated ones (Al(VI)), and explain the appearance of a small peak at 66 ppm in the (27)Al NMR spectrum.

Reactions of {[Pd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)Pd](&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))}(4).2O(C(2)H(5))(2). Crystal Structures of the Complexes [(Ph(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)Pd(SC(6)F(5))].1.4CH(2)Cl(2) and [(Ph(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)Pd(PPh(3))]SO(3)CF(3).2CH(2)Cl(2) and ab Initio MO Calculations on the Model Systems [(H(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-H(2)PCH(2)PH(2))(&mgr;-SH)Pd(PH(3))](+) and [(H(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-H(2)PCH(2)PH(2))Pd(PH(3))](2+).

{[Pd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)Pd](&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))}(4) reacts 1:4 with neutral ligands L to give [LPd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)Pd(SC(6)F(5))] or 1:8 to form [LPd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)PdL](+) (dppm = bis(diphenylphosphino)methane). These binuclear complexes retain the palladium-palladium bond and the two dissimilar bridging ligands, as demonstrated by the X-ray structural determinations carried out on [(Ph(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)Pd(SC(6)F(5))].1.4CH(2)Cl(2) and [(Ph(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-SC(6)F(5))(&mgr;-dppm)Pd(PPh(3))]SO(3)CF(3).2CH(2)Cl(2). Ab initio calculations on the model systems [(H(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-H(2)PCH(2)PH(2))(&mgr;-SH)Pd(PH(3))](+) and [(H(3)P)Pd(&mgr;-H(2)PCH(2)PH(2))Pd(PH(3))](2+) show that the metal-metal bond arises mainly from interactions between palladium sp orbitals, which also play a predominant role in the binding with the sulfur bridge.