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Abstract: Geometric structure, atomic vibrations and atomic charges and their thermally induced fluctuations have been calculated as a function of depth in, and thickness of, rutile TiO2(110) slabs, within the framework of the variable-charge potential of Swamy and Gale [V. Swamy, J.D. Gale, Phys. Rev. B 62 (2000) 5406] at 300K. Molecular dynamics simulations and lattice dynamics calculations were performed with a 2D periodic slab model for slab thicknesses between 3 and 11 triple layers (approximately 9–35Å). Odd–even oscillations with respect to the number of slab layers are found for the surface relaxation for very thin slabs, and for the (slowly converging) rumpling in the middle of the slab. The Ti and O atomic charges in the outermost three atomic layers differ from the rest of the slab (they are less ionic); the thermal vibrations do not alter this picture. The atomic mean-square amplitudes are some 50% larger (more for O, less for Ti) at the surface than in the middle of the slab and decay rather slowly to the bulk values. Comparisons with the results of a rigid-ion potential for titania [M. Matsui, M. Akaogi, Mol. Simul. 6 (1991) 238] are presented for non-electronic properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Several Li+- and Na+-acetonitrile models were derived from ab initio calculations at the counterpoise-corrected MP2/TZV++(d,p) level for distorted ion-(MeCN)n clusters with n=1, 4 and 6. Two different many-body ion-acetonitrile models were constructed: an effective three-body potential for use with the six-site effective pair model of Bo¨hm et al., and an effective polarizable many-body model. The polarizable acetonitrile model used in the latter model is a new empirical model which was also derived in the present paper. Mainly for comparative purposes, two ion-acetonitrile pair potentials were also constructed from the ab initio cluster calculations: one pure pair potential and one effective pair potential. Using all these potential models, MD simulations in the NPT ensemble were performed for the pure acetonitrile liquid and for Li+(MeCN) and Na+(MeCN) solutions with 1 ion in 512 solvent molecules and with a simulation time of at least 120 ps per system. Thermodynamic properties, solvation-shell structure and the self-diffusion coefficient of the ions and of the solvent molecules were calculated and compared between the different models and with experimental data, where available. The Li+ ion is found to be four-coordinated when the new many-body potentials are used, in contrast to the six-coordinated structure obtained for the pure pair and effective pair potentials. The coordination number of Na+ is close to six for all the models derived here, although the coordination number becomes slightly smaller with the many-body potentials. For both ions, the solvent molecules in the first shell point their nitrogen ends towards the cation, while in the second shell the opposite orientation is the most common. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Results from molecular dynamics simulations for bulk and the (0 1 1) surface of reduced and unreduced CeO2 at 300 K are reported. The presence of vacancies in reduced ceria is found to give rise to many different local structural arrangements, and to a significant broadening of the peaks in the pair-distribution function. This broadening is mainly due to the appearance of these new structural arrangements, and it is not due to the increased ionic motions in the reduced systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The calculation of the electrostatic potential resulting from an infinite or extended array of charges in the interior of a region of interest is a frequent task in computational chemistry. In case of a periodic potential this can, for example, be done by Ewald summation or by multipole methods. An important alternative are those methods where arrays of auxiliary point charges are optimized with respect to charge and/or position to reproduce the original electrostatic potential. In the literature different variations are reported. We compare the performance of some of these with respect to their ability to reproduce the original potential and the computational effort required. Between (1) surface charges determined by the conductor-boundary condition, (2) optimized surface charges, and (3) surface charges floating on the surface we find that (2) offers good quality with small computational costs involved. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2004 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The H2O and H2O2 molecules resemble each other in a multitude of ways as has been noted in the literature. Here, we present density functional theory (DFT) calculations for the H2O2(s) and H2O2·2H2O(s) crystals and make selected comparisons with ice polymorphs. The performance of a number of dispersion-corrected density functionals—both self-consistent and a posteriori ones—are assessed, and we give special attention to the D3 correction and its effects. The D3 correction to the lattice energies is large: for H2O2(s) the D3 correction constitutes about 25% of the lattice energy using PBE, much more for RPBE, much less for SCAN, and it primarily arises from non-H-bonded interactions out to about 5 Å.The large D3 corrections to the lattice energies are likely a consequence of several effects: correction for missing dispersion interaction, the ability of D3 to capture and correct various other kinds of limitations built into the underlying DFT functionals, and finally some degree of cell-contraction-induced polarization enhancement. We find that the overall best-performing functionals of the twelve examined are optPBEvdW and RPBE-D3. Comparisons with DFT assessments for ices in the literature show that where the same methods have been used, the assessments largely agree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The surface free energy of (2×3) and (2×4) water induced reconstructions (WIR) of TiO 2 anatase (0 0 1) surfaces in bulk water is calculated by ab-initio molecular dynamics. • In bulk water the stability hierarchy of the WIR TiO 2 anatase (0 0 1) surface depends on the temperature. • At room temperature the experimental surface periodicity is recovered on a WIR basis and explains the inertness of this surface for water splitting. Water on metal oxides interfaces generate a variety of ordered motifs that depend on the structural properties of the exposed solid surfaces. Here we emphasize the importance of considering the thermodynamic state of the surrounding liquid to find the interface structures in real systems. In particular, using ab initio molecular dynamics, we have studied the thermodynamic behavior of the water induced reconstructed (WIR) anatase (0 0 1) surface under full hydration. The long standing issue of the reconstruction symmetry in this facet of the anatase, that is the TiO 2 stable phase at the nanoscale, is addressed showing that the stable state for a WIR surface in vacuum and in bulk water are different, the latter depending on the thermodynamic state of the system. Thermally activated surface phase transitions between (2×4) and (2×3) symmetries are lead by the surface relaxation caused by the molecular adsorption and release phenomena at the interface. Our approach enables the validation to aqueous environment of surface-confined water structures derived in vacuum, emphasizing the role of the thermodynamics conditions for characterizing solid-liquid interfaces especially for nano sized systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical and experimental vibrational signatures of H2O and OH− (dissociated water) adsorbed on stoichiometric ceria{111} surfaces are compared. The experimental ones were collected from low-coverage experiments in the literature, and the theoretical anharmonic frequencies were generated using density functional theory calculations employing the optPBE-vdW functional for coverages from 0.5 to a few monolayers. It is found that (i) the experiments and our calculations overall agree well, lending credibility to both; (ii) the calculations manage to resolve the large class of H-bonded motifs into frequency classes that can guide experimental assignments; (iii) it is possible to find a geometrical H-bond definition that also captures the OH vibrational frequency downshifts well: R(H⋯O) ≤ 2.5 Å and the O–H⋯O angle θ ≥ 100°; and (iv) the frequency vs electric field relations for water and hydroxides (i.e., dissociated water) follow different and well-separated curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]