Search

We have combined an embedded-cluster model with an extension of the method of increments to treat the adsorption of molecules on a surface. In this way we are able to investigate the physisorption of CO on CeO2(110) at the MP2, MP4(SDTQ), and CCSD(T) levels with only moderate computational costs. We find that, at the CCSD(T) level, 25% of the adsorption energy originates from electron correlation. The interactions of the CO molecule with its five nearest cerium and oxygen neighbors in the surface layer make the largest contributions to the electron correlation. Approximately 97% of the adsorption-induced electron correlation energy part of the adsorption energy is recovered by the method of increments (in our chosen expansion), at the MP2 level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ab initio embedded-cluster calculations have been performed for the CeO2(110) surface using temperature induced structures from molecular dynamics (MD) snapshots. As a first step towards understanding how temperature induced distortions of the surface structure influence the surface oxygen reactivity, the energy cost of removing an O atom from the surface was calculated for 41 snapshots from the MD simulation at 300 K. The quantum mechanical embedded-cluster calculations show that already at 300 K the dynamics causes significant fluctuations (root mean square of 0.37 eV) in the O vacancy formation energy (Evac) while the distribution of the two excess electrons associated with the vacancy is virtually unaffected by the surface dynamics and remains localized on the two Ce ions close to the vacancy. It is also found that the quantum mechanical Evac fluctuations can be reproduced by oxygen vacancy calculations using only the relaxed shell-model force field (FF) itself and the MD geometries. Using the FF as the interaction model, the effect of raising the temperature to 750 K and the effect of doping with Ca were investigated for the oxygen vacancy formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combined molecular dynamics (MD)+quantum mechanics (QM) method for studying processes on ionic surfaces is presented. Through the combination of classical MD and ab initio embedded-cluster calculations, this method allows the modeling of surface processes involving both the structural and dynamic features of the substrate, even for large-scale systems. The embedding approach used to link the information from the MD simulation to the cluster calculation is presented, and rigorous tests have been carried out to ensure the feasibility of the method. The electrostatic potential and electron density resulting from our embedded-cluster model have been compared with periodic slab results, and confirm the satisfying quality of our embedding scheme as well as the importance of applying embedding in our combined MD+QM approach. We show that a highly accurate representation of the Madelung potential becomes a prerequisite when the embedded-cluster approach is applied to temperature-distorted surface snapshots from the MD simulation. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The adsorption of CO on the CeO2(110) surface has been studied using hybrid density functional theory (DFT) in the form of the B3LYP functional. In our calculations, both physisorption and chemisorption are observed. In the physisorption case, CO binds perpendicularly to a surface Ce ion. The adsorption energy is estimated to 0.1eV and the CO stretching vibration becomes slightly blue-shifted (+9cm−1), but the changes to the substrate and adsorbate structure are minimal. Test calculations using Møller–Plesset perturbation theory to the second order (MP2) suggest that dispersive interactions may be important in the case of CO physisorption on ceria. A chemisorption site was also found, where the CO molecule binds to two surface O ions, forming a surface carbonate species. Here, B3LYP predicts an adsorption energy of 2.1eV and a red-shift of 470cm−1 for the CO stretching vibration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The oxygen vacancy formation on the CeO2(110) surface has been studied by ab initio electronic structure calculations. Embedded-cluster calculations with explicit treatment of the electron correlation from Møller–Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) provide an alternative description of the surface O vacancy compared to previously reported periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The electronic structure at the MP2 level shows a complete localization of the excess electrons on the two surface Ce ions neighboring the vacancy, contrary to the delocalized description seen in the periodic DFT calculations for the CeO2(110) surface (but more in line with DFT+U results recently reported for the partially reduced CeO2 bulk and (001)-surface). Our calculations predict a vacancy formation energy (3.1–3.3eV at the MP2 level including basis set superposition error (BSSE) correction) and a geometric structure in qualitative agreement with the periodic DFT results, where the surface O ion next to the vacancy assumes a bridging position between the reduced Ce ions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Combined molecular dynamics (MD) and quantum mechanics (QM) calculations have been performed for CO adsorbed on MgO(001) at 50 K. The changes in the adsorption energy caused by the surface dynamics have been analyzed, and a clear correlation was found between the dynamic variation of the adsorption energy and the electrostatic field above the adsorption site. By separating the electrostatic contributions arising from the local structure at the adsorption site from those originating from the rest of the slab, a linear expression of these contributions could be fitted which closely reproduces the dynamic changes in the adsorption energy. Using this simple linear expression, the distribution of adsorption energies for CO above the Mg(2+) sites on the MgO(001) surface at 50, 80, and 150 K have been predicted.