Revealing the structure of a catalytic combustion active-site ensemble combining uniform nanocrystal catalysts and theory insights.

Supported metal catalysts are extensively used in industrial and environmental applications. To improve their performance, it is crucial to identify the most active sites. This identification is, however, made challenging by the presence of a large number of potential surface structures that complicate such an assignment. Often, the active site is formed by an ensemble of atoms, thus introducing further complications in its identification. Being able to produce uniform structures and identify the ones that are responsible for the catalyst performance is a crucial goal. In this work, we utilize a combination of uniform Pd/Pt nanocrystal catalysts and theory to reveal the catalytic active-site ensemble in highly active propene combustion materials. Using colloidal chemistry to exquisitely control nanoparticle size, we find that intrinsic rates for propene combustion in the presence of water increase monotonically with particle size on Pt-rich catalysts, suggesting that the reaction is structure dependent. We also reveal that water has a near-zero or mildly positive reaction rate order over Pd/Pt catalysts. Theory insights allow us to determine that the interaction of water with extended terraces present in large particles leads to the formation of step sites on metallic surfaces. These specific step-edge sites are responsible for the efficient combustion of propene at low temperature. This work reveals an elusive geometric ensemble, thus clearly identifying the active site in alkene combustion catalysts. These insights demonstrate how the combination of uniform catalysts and theory can provide a much deeper understanding of active-site geometry for many applications.

Computational Raman spectroscopy of organometallic reaction products in lithium and sodium-based battery systems.

A common approach to understanding surface reaction mechanisms in rechargeable lithium-based battery systems involves spectroscopic characterization of the product mixtures and matching of spectroscopic features to spectra of pure candidate reference compounds. This strategy, however, requires separate chemical synthesis and accurate characterization of potential reference compounds. It also assumes that atomic structures are the same in the actual product mixture as in the reference samples. We propose an alternative approach that uses first-principles computations of spectra of the possible reaction products and by-products present in advanced battery systems. We construct a library of computed Raman spectra for possible products, achieving excellent agreement with reference experimental data, targeting solid-electrolyte interphase in Li-ion cells and discharge products of Li-air cells. However, the solid-state crystalline structure of Li(Na) metal-organic compounds is often not known, making the spectra computations difficult. We develop and apply a novel technique of simplifying spectra calculations by using dimer-like representations of the solid state structures. On the basis of a systematic investigation, we demonstrate that molecular dimers of Li(Na)-based organometallic material provide relevant information about the vibrational properties of many possible solid reaction products. Such an approach should serve as a basis to extend existing spectral libraries of molecular structures relevant for understanding the link between atomic structures and measured spectroscopic data of materials in novel battery systems.

Interaction of charge carriers with lattice vibrations in oligoacene crystals from naphthalene to pentacene.

A key feature of organic π-conjugated materials is the strong connection between their electronic and geometric structures. In particular, it has been recently demonstrated that nonlocal electron-vibration (electron-phonon) interactions, which are related to the modulation of the electronic couplings (transfer integrals) between adjacent molecules by lattice vibrations, play an important role in the charge-transport properties of organic semiconductors. Here, we use density functional theory calculations and molecular mechanics simulations to estimate the strength of these nonlocal electron-vibration couplings in oligoacene crystals as a function of molecular size from naphthalene through pentacene. The effect of each optical vibrational mode on the electronic couplings is evaluated quantitatively. The results point to a very strong coupling to both intermolecular vibrational modes and intramolecular (including high-frequency) modes in all studied systems. Importantly, our results underline that the amount of relaxation energy associated with nonlocal electron-phonon coupling decreases as the size of the molecule increases. This work establishes an original relationship between chemical structure and nonlocal vibrational coupling in the description of charge transport in organic semiconductor crystals.

Impact of perfluorination on the charge-transport parameters of oligoacene crystals.

The charge-transport parameters of the perfluoropentacene and perfluorotetracene crystals are studied with a joint experimental and theoretical approach that combines gas-phase ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory. To gain a better understanding of the role of perfluorination, the results for perfluoropentacene and perfluorotetracene are compared to those for their parent oligoacenes, that is, pentacene and tetracene. Perfluorination is calculated to increase the ionization potentials and electron affinities by approximately 1 eV, which is expected to reduce significantly the injection barrier for electrons in organic electronics devices. Perfluorination also leads to significant changes in the crystalline packing, which greatly affects the electronic properties of the crystals and their charge-transport characteristics. The calculations predict large conduction and valence bandwidths and low hole and electron effective masses in the perfluoroacene crystals, with the largest mobilities expected along the pi-stacks. Perfluorination impacts as well both local and nonlocal vibrational couplings, whose strengths increase by a factor of about 2 with respect to the parent compounds.

Influence of intermolecular vibrations on the electronic coupling in organic semiconductors: the case of anthracene and perfluoropentacene.

We have performed classical molecular dynamics simulations and quantum-chemical calculations on molecular crystals of anthracene and perfluoropentacene. Our goal is to characterize the amplitudes of the room-temperature molecular displacements and the corresponding thermal fluctuations in electronic transfer integrals, which constitute a key parameter for charge transport in organic semiconductors. Our calculations show that the thermal fluctuations lead to Gaussian-like distributions of the transfer integrals centered around the values obtained for the equilibrium crystal geometry. The calculated distributions have been plugged into Monte-Carlo simulations of hopping transport, which show that lattice vibrations impact charge transport properties to various degrees depending on the actual crystal structure.

Vibronic coupling in the ground and excited states of oligoacene cations.

The vibrational coupling in the ground and excited states of positively charged naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene, and pentacene molecules is studied on the basis of a joint experimental and theoretical study of ionization spectra using high-resolution gas-phase photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles correlated quantum-mechanical calculations. Our theoretical and experimental results reveal that, while the main contribution to relaxation energy in the ground state of oligoacene systems comes from high-energy vibrations, the excited-state relaxation energies show a significant redistribution toward lower-frequency vibrations. A direct correlation is found between the nature of the vibronic interaction and the pattern of the electronic state structure.

From computational discovery to experimental characterization of a high hole mobility organic crystal.

For organic semiconductors to find ubiquitous electronics applications, the development of new materials with high mobility and air stability is critical. Despite the versatility of carbon, exploratory chemical synthesis in the vast chemical space can be hindered by synthetic and characterization difficulties. Here we show that in silico screening of novel derivatives of the dinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3'-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene semiconductor with high hole mobility and air stability can lead to the discovery of a new high-performance semiconductor. On the basis of estimates from the Marcus theory of charge transfer rates, we identified a novel compound expected to demonstrate a theoretic twofold improvement in mobility over the parent molecule. Synthetic and electrical characterization of the compound is reported with single-crystal field-effect transistors, showing a remarkable saturation and linear mobility of 12.3 and 16 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), respectively. This is one of the very few organic semiconductors with mobility greater than 10 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) reported to date.

Electronic properties of the 2,6-diiododithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]thiophene molecule and crystal: a joint experimental and theoretical study.

The electronic properties of the 2,6-diiododithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d] thiophene molecule and crystal are investigated by means of UV-vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, X-ray crystallography, and density functional theory. The experimental and calculated properties of the compound are compared to those exhibited by the parent molecule, dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]thiophene. Quantum-chemical studies of the 2,6-diiododithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]thiophene crystal suggest uniaxial hole-transport character with an effective mass of about 2m(0), comparable to that in the pentacene single crystal.

Charge transport parameters of the pentathienoacene crystal.

Pentathienoacene, the thiophene equivalent of pentacene, is one of the latest additions to the family of organic crystal semiconductors with a great potential for use in thin film transistors. By using density functional theory and gas-phase ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, we investigate the microscopic charge transport parameters of the pentathienoacene crystal. We find that the valence band exhibits a stronger dispersion than those in the pentacene and rubrene single crystals with marked uniaxial characteristics within the molecular layer due to the presence of one-dimensional pi-stacks; a small hole effective mass is also found along the direction perpendicular to the molecular layers. In the conduction band, strong intermolecular sulfur-sulfur interactions give rise to a significant interstack electronic coupling whereas the intrastack dispersion is greatly reduced. The intramolecular vibronic coupling (reorganization energy) is stronger than that in pentacene but comparable to that in sexithiophene; it is larger for holes than for electrons, as a result of low-frequency modes induced by the sulfur atoms. The polarization energy is large, but its effect on the vibronic coupling remains small. Charge transport is discussed in the framework of both band and hopping models.