Ab initio study of small AunY2 (n=1–4) clusters

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.