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The geometries of the lowest-lying isomers of Au n Y 2 ( n =1–4) clusters are determined systematically via the density functional method B3LYP with relativistic effective core potentials (RECP) and LANL2DZ basis set. Several low-lying isomers were determined, and many of them in electronic configurations with a high-spin multiplicity. The gold–yttrium interaction is strong enough to modify the known growth pattern of bare gold clusters. The stability trend of Y-doped Au n clusters is compared to that of pure Au n clusters. The results show that the inclusion of two Y atoms in the clusters improves the cluster stability, and indicate higher stability as the structures grow in size. The present calculations are useful to understand the enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity gained by using yttrium-doped gold catalyst.

The first-principles method based on density-functional theory is used to investigate the geometries of the lowest-lying isomers of AunAg2 (n = 1~4) clusters. Several low-lying isomers are determined, and many of them in electronic configurations with a high spin multiplicity. The stability trend of Ag-doped Aun clusters is compared to that of pure Aun clusters. Our results indicate that the inclusion of two Ag atoms in the clusters lowers the cluster stability, indicating higher stability as the structures grow in size. The bigger energy difference between the Aun and AunAg2 curves as the structures grows in size. This information will be useful to understanding the enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity gained by using silver-doped gold catalyst.

Gold-doped palladium clusters, Au2Pdn (n = 1~4), are investigated using the density functional method B3LYP with relativistic effective core potentials (RECP) and LANL2DZ basis set. The possible geometrical configurations with their electronic states are determined, and the stability trend is investigated. Several low-lying isomers are determined, and many of them are in electronic configurations with a high-spin multiplicity. Our results indicate that the palladium-gold interaction is strong enough to modify the known pattern of bare palladium clusters, and the lower stability as the structures grow in size. The present calculations are useful to understanding the enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity gained by using gold-doped palladium catalyst.

Palladium-doped gold clusters, AunPd2 ( n = 1 – 4 ), were investigated by two Pd-atom substitutions on the Aun clusters using the density functional method Becke3LYP with relativistic effective core potentials (RECP) and LANL2DZ basis set. The possible stable geometrical configurations with their electronic states are determined, and the stability trend of Pd-doped Aun clusters are compared to that of pure Aun clusters. Our results show that the gold–palladium interaction is strong enough to modify the known growth pattern of bare gold clusters, and indicate that the larger the Aun cluster is, smaller the distortions by the two Pd-atom substitutions are. The present calculations are useful to understand the enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity gained by using palladium-doped gold catalyst.