Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “covalency”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,297 records · Page 72

Enhanced intersystem crossing of boron dipyrromethene by TEMPO radical

Radical enhanced intersystem crossing (EISC) of organic chromophores is an important approach to generate a long-lived triplet state for various electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, structural factors and design rules to promote EISC are not entirely clear. In this work, we report a series of boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivatives covalently linked with a 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxyl (TEMPO) radical with varying distances and topologies. We show that the incorporation of the TEMPO radical to BODIPY results in strong fluorescence quenching by up to 85% as a result of EISC and enhanced internal conversion. In BDP-2AR [2-(4-methyleneamino-TEMPO) BODIPY], a dyad with the shortest BODIPY–TEMPO through-bond distance, we observe the fastest EISC rate (τ isc = 1.4 ns) and the longest triplet excited state lifetime (τ T = 32 μs) compared to other distance and geometry variations. Contrary to previous reports and a general presumption, the BODIPY–TEMPO through-bond distance in this system does not play a significant role on the triplet formation rate and yield. Finally, density functional theory suggests a folding of the TEMPO radical to form a sandwich-like structure with a BODIPY ring that leads to a decrease in the through-space distance, providing a new and an interesting insight for the radical enhanced intersystem.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Combined multiplet theory and experiment for the Fe 2p and 3p XPS of FeO and Fe 2 O 3

The Al K alpha, 1486.6eV, based XPS of Fe 2p and Fe 3p for Fe(III) in Fe 2 O 3 and Fe(II) in FeO are compared with theoretical predictions based on ab initio wavefunctions that accurately treat the final, core-hole, multiplets. The principal objectives of this comparison are to understand the multiplet structure and to evaluate the use of both the 2p and 3p spectra in determining oxidation state. In order to properly interpret the features of these spectra and to use the XPS to provide atomistic insights as well as atomic composition, it is necessary to understand the origin of the multiplet energies and intensities. The theoretical treatment takes into account the ligand field and spin-orbit splittings, the covalent mixing of ligand and Fe 3d orbitals, and the angular momentum coupling of the open shell electrons. These effects lead to the distribution of XPS intensity into a large number of final, ionic, states that are only partly resolved with energies spread over a wide range of binding energies, BEs. For this reason, it is necessary to record the Fe 2p and 3p XPS spectra over a wide energy range which includes all the multiplets in the theoretical treatment as well as additional shake satellites. We also evaluate the effects of differing assumptions concerning the extrinsic background subtraction, to be sure our experimental spectrum may be fairly compared to the theory. In this work, we conclude that the Fe 3p XPS provides an additional means for distinguishing Fe(III) and Fe(II) oxidation states beyond just using the Fe 2p spectrum. In particular, with the use of the Fe 3p XPS, the depth of the material probed is about 1.5 times greater than for the Fe 2p XPS. In addition, a new type of atomic many-body effect that involves excitations into orbitals that have Fe f,$\ell$=3, symmetry has been shown to be important for the Fe 3p XPS.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

r 2 SCAN-D4: Dispersion corrected meta-generalized gradient approximation for general chemical applications

We combine a regularized variant of the strongly constrained and appropriately normed semilocal density functional with the latest generation semi-classical London dispersion correction. The resulting density functional approximation r 2 SCAN-D4 has the speed of generalized gradient approximations while approaching the accuracy of hybrid functionals for general chemical applications. We demonstrate its numerical robustness in real-life settings and benchmark molecular geometries, general main group and organo-metallic thermochemistry, and non-covalent interactions in supramolecular complexes and molecular crystals. Main group and transition metal bond lengths have errors of just 0.8%, which is competitive with hybrid functionals for main group molecules and outperforms them for transition metal complexes. The weighted mean absolute deviation (WTMAD2) on the large GMTKN55 database of chemical properties is exceptionally small at 7.5 kcal/mol. This also holds for metal organic reactions with an MAD of 3.3 kcal/mol. The versatile applicability to organic and metal–organic systems transfers to condensed systems, where lattice energies of molecular crystals are within the chemical accuracy (errors <1 kcal/mol).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Exploring and enhancing the accuracy of interior-scaled Perdew–Zunger self-interaction correction

The Perdew–Zunger self-interaction correction (PZ-SIC) improves the performance of density functional approximations for the properties that involve significant self-interaction error (SIE), as in stretched bond situations, but overcorrects for equilibrium properties where SIE is insignificant. This overcorrection is often reduced by local scaling self-interaction correction (LSIC) of the PZ-SIC to the local spin density approximation (LSDA). Here, we propose a new scaling factor to use in an LSIC-like approach that satisfies an additional important constraint: the correct coefficient of the atomic number Z in the asymptotic expansion of the exchange–correlation (xc) energy for atoms. LSIC and LSIC+ are scaled by functions of the iso-orbital indicator z σ , which distinguishes one-electron regions from many-electron regions. LSIC+ applied to the LSDA works better for many equilibrium properties than LSDA-LSIC and the Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and almost close to the strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-GGA. LSDA-LSIC and LSDA-LSIC+, however, fail to predict interaction energies involving weaker bonds, in sharp contrast to their earlier successes. It is found that more than one set of localized SIC orbitals can yield a nearly degenerate energetic description of the same multiple covalent bond, suggesting that a consistent chemical interpretation of the localized orbitals requires a new way to choose their Fermi orbital descriptors. To make a locally scaled down SIC to functionals beyond the LSDA requires a gauge transformation of the functional’s energy density. Here, the resulting SCAN-sdSIC, evaluated on SCAN-SIC total and localized orbital densities, leads to an acceptable description of many equilibrium properties including the dissociation energies of weak bonds.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Neutron irradiation induced defects in oxides and their impact on the oxide properties

Understanding the irradiation-induced defects in oxides is of interest for a wide range of applications. ZnO is an interesting oxide with mixed ionic and covalent bonding that contains a variety of point defect structures—making it an excellent model for studying irradiation-induced defects and their impact on properties. Here, we investigate the effects of neutron irradiation on the formation of defects and on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO single crystals. We observe the formation of vacancies and voids via positron annihilation spectroscopy. Neutron irradiation led to a significant deterioration of the ZnO structure and formed a high concentration of point defects, vacancy clusters, and voids with large disparities in their structure across variable irradiation times. It also led to significant changes in the optical properties and sample color. Irradiation for 444 h induced a high concentration of Cu acceptors as well as a high concentration of Ga donors. Additionally, temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements revealed the competing production of donors and acceptors and showed an increase in the slope of the carrier freeze-out curve with increasing irradiation dose. This work demonstrates the combined effects of neutron irradiation in producing a wide range of structural defects, impurities, and dopants in oxides and their enormous impact on modifying the oxide structure and both the optical and electronic properties. It particularly emphasizes the importance of considering the production of new impurities and dopants during the neutron irradiation of oxides.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Interpretation of multiple solutions in fully iterative GF2 and GW schemes using local analysis of two-particle density matrices

Due to the presence of non-linear equations, iterative Green’s function methods can result in multiple different solutions even for simple molecular systems. In contrast to the wave-function methods, a detailed and careful analysis of such molecular solutions was not performed before. In this work, we use two-particle density matrices to investigate local spin and charge correlators that quantify the charge resonance and covalent characters of these solutions. When applied within the unrestricted orbital set, spin correlators elucidate the broken symmetry of the solutions, containing necessary information for building effective magnetic Hamiltonians. Based on GW and GF2 calculations of simple molecules and transition metal complexes, we construct Heisenberg Hamiltonians, four-spin-four-center corrections, and biquadratic spin–spin interactions. These Hamiltonian parameterizations are compared to previous wave-function calculations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Ligand removal of Au 25 nanoclusters by thermal and electrochemical treatments for selective CO 2 electroreduction to CO

Undercoordinated metal nanoclusters have shown great promise for various catalytic applications. However, their activity is often limited by the covalently bonded ligands, which could block the active surface sites. Here, we investigate the ligand removal process for Au 25 nanoclusters using both thermal and electrochemical treatments, as well as its impact on the electroreduction of CO 2 to CO. The Au 25 nanoclusters are synthesized with 2-phenylethanethiol as the capping agent and anchored on sulfur-doped graphene. The thiolate ligands can be readily removed under either thermal annealing at ≥180°C or electrochemical biasing at ≤-0.5 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, as evidenced by the Cu underpotential deposition surface area measurement, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. However, these ligand-removing treatments also trigger the structural evolution of Au 25 nanoclusters concomitantly. The thermally and electrochemically treated Au 25 nanoclusters show enhanced activity and selectivity for the electrochemical CO 2 -to-CO conversion than their pristine counterpart, which is attributed to the exposure of undercoordinated Au sites on the surface after ligand removal. This work provides facile strategies to strip away the staple ligands from metal nanoclusters and highlights its importance in promoting the catalytic performances.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Thermal transport and mixed valence in ZrTe3 doped with Hf and Se

Two-dimensional transition metal trichalcogenides (TMTCs) feature covalently bonded metal-chalcogen layers separated by the van der Waals (vdW) gap. Similar to transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), TMTCs often host charge density waves (CDWs) and superconductivity, but unlike TMDCs, atomic chains in the crystal structure give rise to quasi one-dimensional (quasi 1D) conduction. ZrTe3 features the CDW below TCDW = 63 K and filamentary superconductivity below 2 K that can be enhanced by pressure or chemical substitution. Here, we report the presence of mixed valent Zr2+ and Zr4+ atoms in ZrTe3 crystals that are reduced by doping in ZrTe3−xSex and Zr1−yHfyTe3. Superconductivity is enhanced via disorder in Te2-Te3 atomic chains that are associated with CDW formation. Hf substitution on the Zr atomic site enhances TCDW due to unperturbed Te2-Te3 chain periodicity and enhanced electron-phonon coupling. Weak electronic correlations in ZrTe3−xSex are likely governed by the lattice contraction effects.

Liu, Yu (ORCID:0000000188862876)↗

Assessing models of force-dependent unbinding rates via infrequent metadynamics

Protein–ligand interactions are crucial for a wide range of physiological processes. Many cellular functions result in these non-covalent “bonds” being mechanically strained, and this can be integral to proper cellular function. Broadly, two classes of force dependence have been observed—slip bonds, where the unbinding rate increases, and catch bonds, where the unbinding rate decreases. Despite much theoretical work, we cannot predict for which protein–ligand pairs, pulling coordinates, and forces a particular rate dependence will appear. Here, we assess the ability of MD simulations combined with enhanced sampling techniques to probe the force dependence of unbinding rates. We show that the infrequent metadynamics technique correctly produces both catch and slip bonding kinetics for model potentials. We then apply it to the well-studied case of a buckyball in a hydrophobic cavity, which appears to exhibit an ideal slip bond. Finally, we compute the force-dependent unbinding rate of biotin–streptavidin. Here, the complex nature of the unbinding process causes the infrequent metadynamics method to begin to break down due to the presence of unbinding intermediates, despite the use of a previously optimized sampling coordinate. Allowing for this limitation, a combination of kinetic and free energy computations predicts an overall slip bond for larger forces consistent with prior experimental results although there are substantial deviations at small forces that require further investigation. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the promise of predicting force-dependent unbinding rates using enhanced sampling MD techniques while also revealing the methodological barriers that must be overcome to tackle more complex targets in the future.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Bottom-up synthesis of mesoscale nanomeshes of graphene nanoribbons on germanium

The synthesis of functional graphene nanostructures on Ge(001) provides an attractive route toward integrating graphene-based electronic devices onto complementary metal oxide semiconductor-compatible platforms. In this study, we leverage the phenomenon of the anisotropic growth of graphene nanoribbons from rationally placed graphene nanoseeds and their rotational self-alignment during chemical vapor deposition to synthesize mesoscale graphene nanomeshes over areas spanning several hundred square micrometers. Lithographically patterned nanoseeds are defined on a Ge(001) surface at pitches ranging from 50 to 100 nm, which serve as starting sites for subsequent nanoribbon growth. Rotational self-alignment of the nanoseeds followed by anisotropic growth kinetics causes the resulting nanoribbons to be oriented along each of the equivalent, orthogonal Ge < 110 > directions with equal probability. As the nanoribbons grow, they fuse, creating a continuous nanomesh. In contrast to nanomesh synthesis via top-down approaches, this technique yields nanomeshes with atomically faceted edges and covalently bonded junctions, which are important for maximizing charge transport properties. Additionally, we simulate the electrical characteristics of nanomeshes synthesized from different initial nanoseed-sizes, size-polydispersities, pitches, and device channel lengths to identify a parameter-space for acceptable on/off ratios and on-conductance in semiconductor electronics. The simulations show that decreasing seed diameter and pitch are critical to increasing nanomesh on/off ratio and on-conductance, respectively. With further refinements in lithography, nanomeshes obtained via seeded synthesis and anisotropic growth are likely to have superior electronic properties with tremendous potential in a multitude of applications, such as radio frequency communications, sensing, thin-film electronics, and plasmonics.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Thickness dependent OER electrocatalysis of epitaxial thin film of high entropy oxide

High entropy oxides (HEOs), which contain multiple elements in the same crystallographic site, are a promising platform for electrocatalysis in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Investigating these materials in epitaxial thin film form expands the possibility of tuning OER activity by several means, which are not realizable in polycrystalline samples. To date, very few such studies have been reported. In this work, the OER activity of single-crystalline thin films of (La 0.2 Pr 0.2 Nd 0.2 Sm 0.2 Eu 0.2 )NiO 3 , grown on NdGaO 3 substrates have been investigated in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte as a function of film thickness. The OER activity increases with the thickness of the film. X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements find an increase in Ni $d$-O $p$ covalency and a decrease in charge transfer energy with the increase in film thickness. These facilitate higher charge transfer between Ni and surface adsorbates, increasing OER activity. However, the OER process leads to excessive leaching of thicker films and the OER activity of a 75 unit cell thick film is found to be optimal in the present study. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that the thickness of perovskite oxides can be used as a parameter to enhance OER activity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Repartitioned Brillouin-Wigner perturbation theory with a size-consistent second-order correlation energy

Second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) often breaks down catastrophically in small-gap systems, leaving much to be desired in its performance for myriad chemical applications such as noncovalent interactions, thermochemistry, and dative bonding in transition metal complexes. This divergence problem has reignited interest in Brillouin-Wigner perturbation theory (BWPT), which is regular at all orders but lacks size consistency and extensivity, severely limiting its application to chemistry. In this work, we propose an alternative partitioning of the Hamiltonian that leads to a regular BWPT perturbation series that, through the second order, is size-extensive, size-consistent (provided its Hartree–Fock reference is also), and orbital invariant. Here, our second-order size-consistent Brillouin-Wigner (BW-s2) approach can describe the exact dissociation limit of H 2 in a minimal basis set, regardless of the spin polarization of the reference orbitals. More broadly, we find that BW-s2 offers improvements relative to MP2 for covalent bond breaking, noncovalent interaction energies, and metal/organic reaction energies, although rivaling coupled-cluster with single and double substitutions for thermochemical properties.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Quantum mechanics based non-bonded force field functions for use in molecular dynamics simulations of materials and systems: The nitrogen and oxygen columns

Accurate Force Fields (FFs) are essential for Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of the dynamics of realistic materials in terms of atomic-level interactions. The FF parameters of short-range valence interactions can be derived through Quantum Mechanical (QM) calculations on model systems practical for QM (<300 atoms). Similarly, the dynamic electrostatic interactions can be described with methods such as QEq or PQEq that allow charges and polarization to adjust dynamically. However, accurately extracting long-range van der Waals (vdW) interactions from QM calculations poses challenges due to the absence of a definitive method to distinguish between the different energetic components of electrostatics, polarization, vdW, hydrogen bonding, and valence interactions. To do this we use the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof flavor of Density Functional Theory, including empirical D3 vdW corrections, to predict the Equation of State for each element (keeping any covalent bonds fixed), from which we obtain the two-body vdW nonbond potential. Here, we extend these calculations to include non-bonded parameters for the N and O columns of the periodic table so that we now describe columns 15 (N), 16 (O), 17 (F), and 18 (Ne) of the periodic table. For these 20 elements, we find that the two-body vdW potentials can all be mapped to a single universal two-body curve, with just three scaling parameters: Re, De, and L. We refer to this as the Universal NonBond (UNB) potential. We expect this to be useful for new MD simulations and a helpful starting point to obtain UNB parameters for the remainder of the periodic table.

Chemistry↗

Unraveling H2 chemisorption and physisorption on metal decorated graphene using quantum Monte Carlo

Molecular hydrogen has the potential to significantly reduce the use of carbon dioxide emitting energy processes. However, hydrogen gas storage is a major bottleneck for its large-scale use as current storage methods are energy intensive. Among different storage methods, physisorbing molecular hydrogen at ambient pressure and temperatures is a promising alternative—particularly in light of the advancements in tunable lightweight nanomaterials and high throughput screening methods. Nonetheless, understanding hydrogen adsorption in well-defined nanomaterials remains experimentally challenging and reference information is scarce despite the proliferation of works predicting hydrogen adsorption. We focus on Li, Na, Ca, and K, decorated graphene sheets as substrates for molecular hydrogen adsorption, and compute the most accurate adsorption energies available to date using quantum diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC). Building on our previous insights at the density functional theory (DFT) level, we find that a weak covalent chemisorption of molecular hydrogen, known as Kubas interaction, is feasible on Ca decorated graphene according to DMC, in agreement with DFT. This finding is in contrast to previous DMC predictions of the 4H2/Ca+ gas cluster (without graphene) where chemisorption is not favored. However, we find that the adsorption energy of hydrogen on metal decorated graphene according to a widely used DFT method is not fully consistent with DMC. The reference adsorption energies reported herein can be used to find better work-horse methods for application in large-scale modeling of hydrogen adsorption. Furthermore, the implications of this work affect strategies for finding suitable hydrogen storage materials and high-throughput methods.

Chemistry↗

Understanding electronic structure tunability by metal dopants for promoting MgB 2 hydrogenation

Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier, but its onboard application is limited by the need for compact, low-pressure storage solutions. Solid-state complex metal hydride systems, such as MgB 2 /Mg(BH 4 ) 2 , offer high storage capacities but suffer from sluggish kinetics and poor reversibility. One avenue for improving reactivity is to introduce metal dopants to alter electronic and atomic properties, but the role of these chemical additives remains poorly understood, particularly for the hydrogenation reaction. In this work, we used density functional theory calculations on model MgB 2 systems to rationalize the potential role of metal dopants in destabilizing B–B bonding within the MgB 2 lattice. We carried out detailed electronic structure analyses for 28 different metal dopant adatoms to identify properties that contribute to a dopant’s efficacy. Based on the simulation results, we propose that an intermediate ionic and covalent character of the bonds between adatoms and B atoms is desirable for facilitating charge redistribution, disrupting the B–B bond network, and promoting H 2 dissociation and H atom chemisorption on MgB 2 .

08 HYDROGEN↗

Hydrogen irradiation-driven computational surface chemistry of lithium oxide and hydroxide

We have investigated, using molecular dynamics, the surface chemistry of hydrogen incident on the amorphous and crystalline lithium oxide and lithium hydroxide surfaces upon being slowed down by a collision cascade and retained in the amorphous surface of either Li 2 O or LiOH. We looked for the bonding of H to the resident structures in the surface to understand a possible chain of chemical reactions that can lead to surface transformation upon H atom impact. Our findings, using Density-Functional Theory (DFT) trained ReaxFF force field/electronegativity equalization method potentials, stress the importance of inclusion of polarization in the dynamics of a Li–O–H system, which is also illustrated by DFT energy minimization and quantum–classical molecular dynamics using tight binding DFT. The resulting polar-covalent chemistry of the studied systems is complex and very sensitive to the instantaneous positions of all atoms as well as the ratio of concentrations of various resident atoms in the surface.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Descriptors of water aggregation

For this work, we rely on a total of 23 (cluster size, 8 structural, and 14 connectivity) descriptors to investigate structural patterns and connectivity motifs associated with water cluster aggregation. In addition to the cluster size n (number of molecules), the 8 structural descriptors can be further categorized into (i) one-body (intramolecular): covalent OH bond length (r OH ) and HOH bond angle (θ HOH ), (ii) two-body: OO distance (r OO ), OHO angle (θ OHO ), and HOOX dihedral angle ($\phi$ HOOX ), where X lies on the bisector of the HOH angle, (iii) three-body: OOO angle (θ OOO ), and (iv) many-body: modified tetrahedral order parameter (q) to account for two-, three-, four-, five-coordinated molecules (q m , m = 2, 3, 4, 5) and radius of gyration (R g ). The 14 connectivity descriptors are all many-body in nature and consist of the AD, AAD, ADD, AADD, AAAD, AAADD adjacencies [number of hydrogen bonds accepted (A) and donated (D) by each water molecule], Wiener index, Average Shortest Path Length, hydrogen bond saturation (% HB), and number of non-short-circuited three-membered cycles, four-membered cycles, five-membered cycles, six-membered cycles, and seven-membered cycles. We mined a previously reported database of 4 948 959 water cluster minima for (H 2 O) n , n = 3–25 to analyze the evolution and correlation of these descriptors for the clusters within 5 kcal/mol of the putative minima. It was found that r OH and % HB correlated strongly with cluster size n, which was identified as the strongest predictor of energetic stability. Marked changes in the adjacencies and cycle count were observed, lending insight into changes in the hydrogen bond network upon aggregation. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to identify descriptor dependencies and group clusters into specific structural patterns across different cluster sizes. The results of this study inform our understanding of how water clusters evolve in size and what appropriate descriptors of their structural and connectivity patterns are with respect to system size, stability, and similarity. The approach described in this study is general and can be easily extended to other hydrogen-bonded systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Interfacial electron transfer of perylenes: Influence of the anchor binding mode

Interfacial electron transfer (IET) through saturated single-linker and dual-linker groups from a perylene chromophore into nanostructured TiO2 films was studied by ultrafast spectroscopy. Perylene chromophores with one and two propanoic acid linker groups in the peri and ortho positions were investigated. In comparison to previously studied perylenes bound via unsaturated acrylic acid linkers, the chromophores with saturated linkers showed bi-exponential IET dynamics. Two distinct transfer times were observed that indicate the presence of two concurrent binding modes. A comparison between ortho- and peri-substituted sensitizers resulted in slower IET dynamics and weaker electronic coupling for ortho substitution. Finally, IET from sensitizers with saturated linker groups is neither promoted nor hindered by a second linker group. This indicates that only one of the two linkers binds covalently to the surface. This study reveals the importance of the anchor-binding mode and design considerations of the linker for regulating IET.

Chemistry↗