Understanding the microscopic processes that govern the charge-induced deformation of carbon nanotubes

While carbon nanotubes have technological potential as actuators, the underlying actuation mechanisms remain poorly understood. We calculate charge-induced stresses and strains for electrochemical actuation of carbon nanotubes with different chiralities and defects, using density-functional theory and various tight-binding models. For a given deformation mode the concept of bonding and antibonding orbitals can be redefined depending on the sign of a differential band-structure stress. We use this theoretical framework to analyze orbital contributions to the actuation. These show charge asymmetric behavior which is due to next-nearest-neighbor hopping while Coulombic contributions account fo…

Ab Initio Simulation of Clusters: Relativistic Effects in Structure and Bonding of Noble Metal Nanoparticles

Resolving the atomic and electronic structures of nanoclusters represents an important preliminary for their controlled use in future nanotechnologies. Here we show through the comparison of density-functional calculations with high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy that 1.4 nm nanoparticles of silver (negatively charged clusters of 53 to 58 atoms) are icosahedral-based structures displaying a perfect icosahedral-induced electronic shell structure for Ag 55 − and slightly perturbed shell structures for the neighboring cluster sizes. At variance, 55-atom gold clusters exhibit several isomeric structures of low symmetry, with a largely diminished electronic shell structure. This surprisin…

A 58-electron superatom-complex model for the magic phosphine-protected gold clusters (Schmid-gold, Nanogold®) of 1.4-nm dimension

We have re-investigated the structural identity of the famous gold-phosphine-halide Au:PR3:X compound having 55–69 gold atoms and core size of 1.4 nm (similar to “Schmid gold” or Nanogold®) from the viewpoint of the Superatom-Complex (SAC) model for ligand protected metal clusters, and in consideration of the ligand-adatom groups observed previously for the structurally known 39-atom cluster [Au39(PR3)14Cl6]−1. Density functional theory is used to define the formation energy of various compositions and structures, enabling a comparison of the stability of different cluster-sizes. In agreement with the SAC model, we find a strong correlation between optimal energy and delocalized electron sh…

15. Mainzer Allergie-Workshop 2003

Liquid-liquid phase coexistence in gold clusters. 2D or not 2D?

The thermodynamics of gold cluster anions (${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, $N=11,\dots{},14$) is investigated using quantum molecular dynamics. Our simulations suggest that ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ may exhibit a novel, freestanding planar liquid phase which dynamically coexists with a normal three-dimensional liquid. Upon cooling with experimentally realizable cooling rates, the entropy-favored three-dimensional liquid clusters often supercool and solidify into the ``wrong'' dimensionality. This indicates that experimental validation of theoretically predicted ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ground states might be more complicated than hitherto expected.

55-Atom clusters of silver and gold: Symmetry breaking by relativistic effects

Abstract Anionic 55-atom clusters of gold and silver are studied using density functional theory, scalar relativistic ab initio pseudopotentials and self-consistent generalized gradient corrections. An almost perfect icosahedron is found to be the clear ground state of Ag 55 - , and its electronic density of states agrees almost perfectly with recently measured high-resolution photoelectron spectra, up to the magnitude of the splitting of the highest free-electron shells by the Ih crystal field. A comparison between theory and a recent experiment allows one to assign icosahedral-based structures also for the Ag 57 - cluster. On the other hand, the Au 55 - cluster has several close-lying low…

Oxidation of magnesia-supported Pd-clusters leads to the ultimate limit of epitaxy with a catalytic function

Oxide-supported transition-metal clusters and nanoparticles have attracted significant attention owing to their important role as components of model catalysts, sensors, solar cells and magnetic recording devices. For small clusters, functionality and structure are closely interrelated. However, knowledge of the structure of the bare cluster is insufficient as the interaction with the chemical environment might cause drastic structural changes. Here we show by ab initio simulations based on the density functional theory that the reaction with molecular oxygen transforms small, non-crystalline, magnesia-supported Pd-clusters to crystalline Pd(x)O(y) nano-oxide clusters that are in epitaxy wi…

Lithium adsorption at prismatic graphite surfaces enhances interlayer cohesion

Abstract We use density functional calculations to determine the binding sites and binding energies of Li + at graphene edges and prismatic graphite surfaces. Binding is favorable at bare and carbonyl terminated surfaces, but not favorable at hydrogen terminated surfaces. These findings have implications for the exfoliation of graphitic anodes in lithium-ion batteries that happens if solute and solvent co-intercalate. First, specific adsorption facilitates desolvation of Li + . Second, chemisorption lowers the surface energy by about 1 J m −2 prismatic surface area, and gives graphite additional stability against exfoliation. The results offer an explanation for experiments that consistentl…

Oxidation of small gas phase Pd clusters: A density functional study

The adsorption sites of O2 on neutral PdN clusters (N = 1–4) were studied using spin density functional theory. Only for Pd1O2 molecular adsorption is found to be favorable. For Pd2–4O2 dissociative adsorption with the oxygen sitting on Pd bridge sites is preferred. Most Pd clusters remain in the same high spin states found for pure gas phase Pd clusters. Only the ground state of Pd4O2 increase its spin from a triplet to a quintet state. For molecular adsorption the O–O bond gets activated to a superoxo-like state.

Size-Dependent Structural Evolution and Chemical Reactivity of Gold Clusters

Ground-state structures and other experimentally relevant isomers of Au(15) (-) to Au(24) (-) clusters are determined through joint first-principles density functional theory and photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. Subsequent calculations of molecular O(2) adsorption to the optimal cluster structures reveal a size-dependent reactivity pattern that agrees well with earlier experiments. A detailed analysis of the underlying electronic structure shows that the chemical reactivity of the gold cluster anions can be elucidated in terms of a partial-jellium picture, where delocalized electrons occupying electronic shells move over the ionic skeleton, whose geometric structure is strongly infl…

Symmetry and Electronic Structure of Noble Metal Nanoparticles and the Role of Relativity

High resolution photoelectron spectra of cold mass selected Cu_n-, Ag_n- and Au_n- with n =53-58 have been measured at a photon energy of 6.42 eV. The observed electron density of states is not the expected simple electron shell structure, but seems to be strongly influenced by electron-lattice interactions. Only Cu55- and Ag55- exhibit highly degenerate states. This is a direct consequence of their icosahedral symmetry, as is confirmed by density functional theory calculations. Neighboring sizes exhibit perturbed electronic structures, as they are formed by removal or addition of atoms to the icosahedron and therefore have lower symmetries. Gold clusters in the same size range show complet…

Density-functional based tight-binding study of small gold clusters

In this paper, we report the ability of self-consistent-charge density-functional based tight-binding method to describe small gold clusters. We concentrate our investigations mainly on anions, and find that the method describes their geometric and electronic structures fairly well, in comparison with density-functional calculations. In particular, the method correctly reproduces the planarity of ground-state structures up to cluster sizes in agreement with experiment and density-functional theory.