Ab initio pressure-dependent reaction kinetics of methyl propanoate radicals

The unimolecular dissociation and isomerization kinetics of the three methyl propanoate (MP) radicals, CH₃CH₂C(O)OĊH₂ (MP-m), CH₃ĊHC(O)OCH₃ (MP-α), and ĊH₂CH₂C(O)OCH₃ (MP-β), are theoretically investigated using high-level ab initio methods and the Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM)/master equation (ME) theory.

First-principles assessment of hole transport in pure and Li-doped NiO

Hole transport in nickel oxide and Li_0.125Ni_0.875O is predicted to be anisotropic. Homogeneous alloying at a high enough concentration introduces free holes, making Li_0.125Ni_0.875O a promising p-type hole conductor.

Oxygen transport in perovskite-type solid oxide fuel cell materials: insights from quantum mechanics

CONSPECTUS: Global advances in industrialization are precipitating increasingly rapid consumption of fossil fuel resources and heightened levels of atmospheric CO2. World sustainability requires viable sources of renewable energy and its efficient use. First-principles quantum mechanics (QM) studies can help guide developments in energy technologies by characterizing complex material properties and predicting reaction mechanisms at the atomic scale. QM can provide unbiased, qualitative guidelines for experimentally tailoring materials for energy applications. This Account primarily reviews our recent QM studies of electrode materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), a promising technology for clean, efficient power generation. SOFCs presently must operate at very high temperatures to allow transport of oxygen ions and electrons through solid-state electrolytes and electrodes. High temperatures, however, engender slow startup times and accelerate material degradation. SOFC technologies need cathode and anode materials that function well at lower temperatures, which have been realized with mixed ion-electron conductor (MIEC) materials. Unfortunately, the complexity of MIECs has inhibited the rational tailoring of improved SOFC materials. Here, we gather theoretically obtained insights into oxygen ion conductivity in two classes of perovskite-type materials for SOFC applications: the conventional La1-xSrxMO3 family (M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co) and the new, promising class of Sr2Fe2-xMoxO6 materials. Using density functional theory + U (DFT+U) with U-J values obtained from ab initio theory, we have characterized the accompanying electronic structures for the two processes that govern ionic diffusion in these materials: (i) oxygen vacancy formation and (ii) vacancy-mediated oxygen migration. We show how the corresponding macroscopic oxygen diffusion coefficient can be accurately obtained in terms of microscopic quantities calculated with first-principles QM. We find that the oxygen vacancy formation energy is a robust descriptor for evaluating oxide ion transport properties. We also find it has a direct relationship with (i) the transition metal-oxygen bond strength and (ii) the extent to which electrons left behind by the departing oxygen delocalize onto the oxygen sublattice. Design principles from our QM results may guide further development of perovskite-based MIEC materials for SOFC applications.

Embedded correlated wavefunction schemes: theory and applications

Conspectus Ab initio modeling of matter has become a pillar of chemical research: with ever-increasing computational power, simulations can be used to accurately predict, for example, chemical reaction rates, electronic and mechanical properties of materials, and dynamical properties of liquids. Many competing quantum mechanical methods have been developed over the years that vary in computational cost, accuracy, and scalability: density functional theory (DFT), the workhorse of solid-state electronic structure calculations, features a good compromise between accuracy and speed. However, approximate exchange-correlation functionals limit DFT's ability to treat certain phenomena or states of matter, such as charge-transfer processes or strongly correlated materials. Furthermore, conventional DFT is purely a ground-state theory: electronic excitations are beyond its scope. Excitations in molecules are routinely calculated using time-dependent DFT linear response; however applications to condensed matter are still limited. By contrast, many-electron wavefunction methods aim for a very accurate treatment of electronic exchange and correlation. Unfortunately, the associated computational cost renders treatment of more than a handful of heavy atoms challenging. On the other side of the accuracy spectrum, parametrized approaches like tight-binding can treat millions of atoms. In view of the different (dis-)advantages of each method, the simulation of complex systems seems to force a compromise: one is limited to the most accurate method that can still handle the problem size. For many interesting problems, however, compromise proves insufficient. A possible solution is to break up the system into manageable subsystems that may be treated by different computational methods. The interaction between subsystems may be handled by an embedding formalism. In this Account, we review embedded correlated wavefunction (CW) approaches and some applications. We first discuss our density functional embedding theory, which is formally exact. We show how to determine the embedding potential, which replaces the interaction between subsystems, at the DFT level. CW calculations are performed using a fixed embedding potential, that is, a non-self-consistent embedding scheme. We demonstrate this embedding theory for two challenging electron transfer phenomena: (1) initial oxidation of an aluminum surface and (2) hot-electron-mediated dissociation of hydrogen molecules on a gold surface. In both cases, the interaction between gas molecules and metal surfaces were treated by sophisticated CW techniques, with the remainder of the extended metal surface being treated by DFT. Our embedding approach overcomes the limitations of conventional Kohn-Sham DFT in describing charge transfer, multiconfigurational character, and excited states. From these embedding simulations, we gained important insights into fundamental processes that are crucial aspects of fuel cell catalysis (i.e., O2 reduction at metal surfaces) and plasmon-mediated photocatalysis by metal nanoparticles. Moreover, our findings agree very well with experimental observations, while offering new views into the chemistry. We finally discuss our recently formulated potential-functional embedding theory that provides a seamless, first-principles way to include back-action onto the environment from the embedded region.

Revisiting photoemission and inverse photoemission spectra of nickel oxide from first principles: implications for solar energy conversion

We use two different ab initio quantum mechanics methods, complete active space self-consistent field theory applied to electrostatically embedded clusters and periodic many-body G0W0 calculations, to reanalyze the states formed in nickel(II) oxide upon electron addition and ionization. In agreement with interpretations of earlier measurements, we find that the valence and conduction band edges consist of oxygen and nickel states, respectively. However, contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that the oxygen states of the valence band edge are localized whereas the nickel states at the conduction band edge are delocalized. We argue that these characteristics may lead to low electron-hole recombination and relatively efficient electron transport, which, coupled with band gap engineering, could produce higher solar energy conversion efficiency compared to that of other transition-metal oxides. Both methods find a photoemission/inverse-photoemission gap of 3.6-3.9 eV, in good agreement with the experimental range, lending credence to our analysis of the electronic structure of NiO.

Accurate bond energies of biodiesel methyl esters from multireference averaged coupled-pair functional calculations

Accurate bond dissociation energies (BDEs) are important for characterizing combustion chemistry, particularly the initial stages of pyrolysis. Here we contribute to evaluating the thermochemistry of biodiesel methyl ester molecules using ab initio BDEs derived from a multireference averaged coupled-pair functional (MRACPF2)-based scheme. Having previously validated this approach for hydrocarbons and a variety of oxygenates, herein we provide further validation for bonds within carboxylic acids and methyl esters, finding our scheme predicts BDEs within chemical accuracy (i.e., within 1 kcal/mol) for these molecules. Insights into BDE trends with ester size are then analyzed for methyl formate through methyl crotonate. We find that the carbonyl group in the ester moiety has only a local effect on BDEs. C═C double bonds in ester alkyl chains are found to increase the strengths of bonds adjacent to the double bond. An important exception are bonds beta to C═C or C═O bonds, which produce allylic-like radicals upon dissociation. The observed trends arise from different degrees of geometric relaxation and resonance stabilization in the radicals produced. We also compute BDEs in various small alkanes and alkenes as models for the long hydrocarbon chain of actual biodiesel methyl esters. We again show that allylic bonds in the alkenes are much weaker than those in the small methyl esters, indicating that hydrogen abstractions are more likely at the allylic site and even more likely at bis-allylic sites of alkyl chains due to more electrons involved in π-resonance in the latter. Lastly, we use the BDEs in small surrogates to estimate heretofore unknown BDEs in large methyl esters of biodiesel fuels.

Significant reduction in NiO band gap upon formation of Lix Ni1-x O alloys: applications to solar energy conversion

Long-term sustainable solar energy conversion relies on identifying economical and versatile semiconductor materials with appropriate band structures for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications (e.g., band gaps of ∼ 1.5-2.0 eV). Nickel oxide (NiO) is an inexpensive yet highly promising candidate. Its charge-transfer character may lead to longer carrier lifetimes needed for higher efficiencies, and its conduction band edge is suitable for driving hydrogen evolution via water-splitting. However, NiO's large band gap (∼ 4 eV) severely limits its use in practical applications. Our first-principles quantum mechanics calculations show band gaps dramatically decrease to ∼ 2.0 eV when NiO is alloyed with Li2O. We show that Lix Ni1-x O alloys (with x=0.125 and 0.25) are p-type semiconductors, contain states with no impurity levels in the gap and maintain NiO's desirable charge-transfer character. Lastly, we show that the alloys have potential for photoelectrochemical applications, with band edges well-placed for photocatalytic hydrogen production and CO2 reduction, as well as in tandem dye-sensitized solar cells as a photocathode.

First-principles predictions of the structure, stability, and photocatalytic potential of Cu2O surfaces

For a photocatalytic reaction to be thermodynamically allowed, a semiconductor's band edges need to be placed appropriately relative to the reaction redox potentials. We apply a recently developed scheme for calculating band edges with density functional theory (DFT)-based methods to Cu2O, evaluating its available thermodynamic overpotential for redox reactions such as water splitting and conversion of CO2 to methanol. Because these calculations are surface dependent, we first study the low-index surfaces of Cu2O using periodic DFT+U theory to characterize and identify the most stable surface, which will be the most catalytically relevant. We employ various techniques to calculate the surface energy, including the method of "ab initio atomistic thermodynamics". The Cu2O(111) surface with (1 × 1) periodicity and surface copper vacancies is identified as the most stable at all oxygen partial pressures, although the ideal stoichiometric Cu2O(111) surface is relatively close in energy under oxygen-poor conditions. These surfaces are then used to calculate the band edges. Comparison of the band edges to redox potentials reveals that Cu2O is thermodynamically capable of photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol and the reduction and oxidation of water.

Elucidation of the selectivity of proton-dependent electrocatalytic CO2 reduction by fac-Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl

A complete mechanism for the proton-dependent electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO by fac-Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl that is consistent with experimental observations has been developed using first principles quantum chemistry. Calculated one-electron reduction potentials, nonaqueous pKa's, reaction free energies, and reaction barrier heights provide deep insight into the complex mechanism for CO2 reduction as well as the origin of selectivity for this catalyst. Protonation and then reduction of a metastable Re-CO2 intermediate anion precedes Brønsted-acid-catalyzed C-O cleavage and then rapid release of CO at negative applied potentials. Conceptually understanding the mechanism of this rapid catalytic process provides a useful blueprint for future work in artificial photosynthesis.

Angular-momentum-dependent orbital-free density functional theory

Orbital-free (OF) density functional theory (DFT) directly solves for the electron density rather than the wave function of many electron systems, greatly simplifying and enabling large scale first principles simulations. However, the required approximate noninteracting kinetic energy density functionals and local electron-ion pseudopotentials severely restrict the general applicability of conventional OFDFT. Here, we present a new generation of OFDFT called angular-momentum-dependent (AMD)-OFDFT to harness the accuracy of Kohn-Sham DFT and the simplicity of OFDFT. The angular momenta of electrons are explicitly introduced within atom-centered spheres so that the important ionic core region can be accurately described. In addition to conventional OF total energy functionals, we introduce a crucial nonlocal energy term with a set of AMD energies to correct errors due to the kinetic energy density functional and the local pseudopotential. We find that our AMD-OFDFT formalism offers substantial improvements over conventional OFDFT, as we show for various properties of the transition metal titanium.