Dissociation of H2on Cu(100): Dynamics on a new two‐dimensional potential energy surface

Interfacial Chemistry in the Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation of CO2 over C-Supported Cu-Based Systems

Operando soft and hard X-ray spectroscopic techniques were used in combination with plane-wave density functional theory (DFT) simulations to rationalize the enhanced activities of Zn-containing Cu nanostructured electrocatalysts in the electrocatalytic CO2 hydrogenation reaction. We show that at a potential for CO2 hydrogenation, Zn is alloyed with Cu in the bulk of the nanoparticles with no metallic Zn segregated; at the interface, low reducible Cu(I)-O species are consumed. Additional spectroscopic features are observed, which are identified as various surface Cu(I) ligated species; these respond to the potential, revealing characteristic interfacial dynamics. Similar behavior was observed for the Fe-Cu system in its active state, confirming the general validity of this mechanism; however, the performance of this system deteriorates after successive applied cathodic potentials, as the hydrogen evolution reaction then becomes the main reaction pathway. In contrast to an active system, Cu(I)-O is now consumed at cathodic potentials and not reversibly reformed when the voltage is allowed to equilibrate at the open-circuit voltage; rather, only the oxidation to Cu(II) is observed. We show that the Cu-Zn system represents the optimal active ensembles with stabilized Cu(I)-O; DFT simulations rationalize this observation by indicating that Cu-Zn-O neighboring atoms are able to activate CO2, whereas Cu-Cu sites provide the supply of H atoms for the hydrogenation reaction. Our results demonstrate an electronic effect exerted by the heterometal, which depends on its intimate distribution within the Cu phase and confirms the general validity of these mechanistic insights for future electrocatalyst design strategies.

Beyond the static corrugation model: Dynamic surfaces with the embedded atom method

The D₂ on Cu(111) system has for many years been one of the major benchmark systems for surface scientists. Generating surface configurations using the embedded atom method (EAM), we investigate the quality of the chemically accurate static corrugation model (SCM) for including surface temperature effects, with a focus on the random displacement approach to its distorted surface generation. With this EAM potential, we also treat the Cu(111) surface of our system fully dynamically and shine a further light on not only the quality of the SCM sudden approach but also the limited effect of energy exchange with the surface. Reaction and (in)elastic scattering probability curves, as well as simulated time-of-flight spectra, show good agreement with both earlier works and experimental results, with surface reactions showing a preference for surface atoms displaced away from the incoming molecule. The good agreement with the non-static surface model also further establishes the limited effect of energy exchange on not only the reaction but also on the elastic and inelastic scattering probabilities, even though some molecular translational energy is deposited into the surface.

Mechanism of CO2 conversion to methanol over Cu(110) and Cu(100) surfaces

Density functional methods are applied to explore the reaction mechanism for CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol over low-index Cu surfaces, namely Cu(110) and Cu(100).

Surface temperature effects on the dynamics of N2 Eley-Rideal recombination on W(100)

Quasiclassical trajectories simulations are performed to study the influence of surface temperature on the dynamics of a N atom colliding a N-preadsorbed W(100) surface under normal incidence. A generalized Langevin surface oscillator scheme is used to allow energy transfer between the nitrogen atoms and the surface. The influence of the surface temperature on the N(2) formed molecules via Eley-Rideal recombination is analyzed at T = 300, 800, and 1500 K. Ro-vibrational distributions of the N(2) molecules are only slightly affected by the presence of the thermal bath whereas kinetic energy is rather strongly decreased when going from a static surface model to a moving surface one. In terms of reactivity, the moving surface model leads to an increase of atomic trapping cross section yielding to an increase of the so-called hot atoms population and a decrease of the direct Eley-Rideal cross section. The energy exchange between the surface and the nitrogen atoms is semi-quantitatively interpreted by a simple binary collision model.

Dynamics simulation of N(2) scattering onto W(100,110) surfaces: A stringent test for the recently developed flexible periodic London-Eyring-Polanyi-Sato potential energy surface

An efficient method to construct the six dimensional global potential energy surface (PES) for two atoms interacting with a periodic rigid surface, the flexible periodic London-Eyring-Polanyi-Sato model, has been proposed recently. The main advantages of this model, compared to state-of-the-art interpolated ab initio PESs developed in the past, reside in its global nature along with the small number of electronic structure calculations required for its construction. In this work, we investigate to which extent this global representation is able to reproduce the fine details of the scattering dynamics of N(2) onto W(100,110) surfaces reported in previous dynamics simulations based on locally interpolated PESs. The N(2)/W(100) and N(2)/W(110) systems are chosen as benchmarks as they exhibit very unusual and distinct dissociative adsorption dynamics although chemically similar. The reaction pathways as well as the role of dynamic trapping are scrutinized. Besides, elastic/inelastic scattering dynamics including internal state and angular distributions of reflected molecules are also investigated. The results are shown to be in fair agreement with previous theoretical predictions.

Six-dimensional potential energy surface for H2at Ru(0001)

The six-dimensional (6D) potential energy surface (PES) for the H(2) molecule interacting with a clean Ru(0001) surface has been computed accurately for the first time. Density functional theory (DFT) and a pseudopotential based periodic plane-wave approach have been used to calculate the electronic interactions between the molecule and the surface. Two different generalized gradient approximation (GGA) exchange-correlation functionals, PW91 and RPBE, have been adopted. Based on the DFT/GGA calculated potential energies, an analytical 6D PES has been constructed using the corrugation reducing procedure. A very accurate representation of the DFT/GGA data has been achieved, with an average error in the interpolation of about 3 meV and a maximum error not larger than about 30 meV. The top site is found to be the most reactive site for both functionals used, but PW91 predicts a higher reactivity than RPBE, with lower-energy and earlier-located dissociation barriers. The energetic corrugation displayed by the RPBE PES is larger than the PW91 PES while the geometric corrugation is smaller. The differences between the two PESs increase as the distance of the molecular center of mass to the surface decreases. A direct comparison with experimental investigations on H(2)/Ru(0001) could shed light on the suitability of these XC potentials often used in DFT calculations.

Mechanisms of H2 dissociative adsorption on the Pt(211) stepped surface

We utilize classical trajectory calculations to study the reaction dynamics of the dissociative adsorption of H2 on the stepped Pt(211) surface. The potential-energy surface has been obtained through an accurate interpolation of density-functional theory data at the generalized gradient approximation level, using the corrugation reduction procedure. New techniques for visualizing the collective dynamics of trajectories are introduced to elucidate the reaction mechanisms involved. Reaction exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on collision energy, first decreasing with energy, and then increasing. A strong component of direct nonactivated reaction exists at the top edge of the step over the entire range of energies. The inverse relationship between reaction and collision energy at low energies is attributed to trapping in weak chemisorption wells. These wells also influence the direct reaction at the step, leading to a strong asymmetric dependence on incidence angle. Reaction on the terrace is activated, and only contributes significantly at high energies. Agreement with experiments on Pt(533) [A. T. Gee, B. E. Hayden, C. Mormiche, and T. S. Nunney, J. Chem. Phys. 112, 7660 (2000); Surf. Sci. 512, 165 (2002)] is good, and we are able to suggest new interpretations of the experimental data.

Adsorption and diffusion on a stepped surface: Atomic hydrogen on Pt(211)

We present density functional theory calculations for atomic hydrogen interacting with a stepped surface, the Pt(211) surface. The calculations have been performed at the generalized gradient approximation level, using a slab representation of the surface. This is the state-of-the-art method for calculating the interaction of atoms or molecules with metal surfaces, nevertheless only few studies have used it to study atoms or molecules interacting with stepped surfaces, and none, to the best of our knowledge, have considered hydrogen interacting with stepped platinum surfaces. Our goal has been to initiate a systematic study of this topic. We have calculated the full three-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) for the H/Pt(211) system together with the vibrational band structure and vibrational eigenfunctions of H. A deep global minimum of the PES is found for bridge-bonded hydrogen on the step edge, in agreement with experimental results for the similar H/Pt(533) system. All the local vibrational excitations at the global minimum have been identified, and this will serve as a helpful guide to the interpretation of future experiments on this (or similar) system(s). Furthermore, from the calculated PES and vibrational band structure, we identify a number of consequences for the interpretation or modelling of diffusion experiments studying the coverage and directional dependence of atomic hydrogen diffusion on stepped platinum surfaces.