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An efficient method of calculating the natural bond orbitals (NBOs) based on a truncation of the entire density matrix of a whole system is presented for large-scale density functional theory calculations. The method recovers an orbital picture for O(N) electronic structure methods which directly evaluate the density matrix without using Kohn-Sham orbitals, thus enabling quantitative analysis of chemical reactions in large-scale systems in the language of localized Lewis-type chemical bonds. With the density matrix calculated by either an exact diagonalization or O(N) method, the computational cost is O(1) for the calculation of NBOs associated with a local region where a chemical reaction takes place. As an illustration of the method, we demonstrate how an electronic structure in a local region of interest can be analyzed by NBOs in a large-scale first-principles molecular dynamics simulation for a liquid electrolyte bulk model (propylene carbonate + LiBF4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we propose that electrode potential fluctuations due to the thermal motion of the solvent may serve to enhance the catalytic activity of nanostructures. The proposed model uses a simple, Marcus-type treatment of the statistical behavior of the solvent and the Butler-Volmer law for the instantaneous catalytic rate as a function of the electrode potential. The rapid development of probing techniques with high spatial and temporal resolution will help to further confirm and characterize the dynamical properties of nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the first-principles total-energy calculations, we demonstrate the possibility of controlling the band-gap and carrier type of bilayer graphene using ionic molecules. Our calculations suggest that bilayer graphene sandwiched by a pair of cation-anion molecules is a semiconductor with a moderate energy gap of 0.26 eV that is attributable to the strong local dipole field induced by the cation-anion pair. Furthermore, we can control the semiconducting carrier type-intrinsic, p-type, or n-type-of bilayer graphene sandwiched by ionic molecules by changing the cation-anion pair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transport properties of C59N encapsulated semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) (C59N-peapod) are investigated. Transport measurements of the peapods in field effect transistors (FETs) reveal that ∼14% of the C59N-peapod sample shows n-type behavior even though the electronic properties of the host SWCNTs are similar to those of C60-peapods that exhibit only p-type property. First-principles electronic-structure calculations reveal that the unique transport behavior originates from the monomer form of C59N encapsulated in SWCNTs. The singly occupied (SO) state of C59N lies in the energy gap of the SWCNT and the energy of this state increases substantially when electrons are injected. Because of this shift to higher energy, the SO state acts as a shallow donor state for the conduction band of the nanotube, which leads to n-type behavior in FET measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on first-principle total-energy calculations, we have found that by applying an external electric field it is possible to control the magnetic state of graphite thin film with the rhombohedral stacking arrangement. When exposed to a moderate electric field normal to the film, the surface of a thin film of rhombohedral graphite undergoes a magnetic phase transition from the antiferromagnetic state to the ferromagnetic state. The polarized electron spin is primarily distributed in the bottommost layer of the film, which forms the interface with the negative electrode. The amount of polarized electron spin is calculated to be 0.067 μB/nm2. The ferromagnetic ordering with the characteristic distribution of the polarized electron spin opens the possibility of using graphite thin films in electronic devices with spin degree of freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use first-principles molecular dynamics to study the electrochemical solid-solid interface between lithium metal and lithium electrolyte LiBH4. An external bias is applied by using an effective screening medium. We observe large polarization in the LiBH4, because the lithium cations in LiBH4 are shifted more on one side of the double-well potential of Li+. This results in a large potential drop in the interface region and a large double-layer capacity corresponding to ca. 70 μF/cm2. H-coordination to the Li atoms plays an important role in the charge-transfer reaction and ion transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for large-scale first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on electrochemical systems has been developed by combining the effective screening medium (ESM) method with O(N) density functional theory (DFT). This implementation has been significantly simplified by the introduction of neutral atom potentials, which minimizes the modifications to existing DFT code. In order to demonstrate ability of this implementation, it has been applied to an electrochemical system consisting of a H-Si(111) electrode, which is a candidate anode for high-capacity Li-ion secondary batteries, and a propylene carbonate (PC) solvent to simulate how PC molecules in the vicinity of the electrode surface respond to an imposed electric field. The large-scale MD simulation clearly demonstrates that the combination of the ESM and O(N) DFT methods provides a useful tool for first-principles investigation of complicated electrochemical systems such as high-capacity batteries.