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Results for “density functional calculation”

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.

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At least 1,693 records · Page 94
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Phase stability and elastic properties of Cr-V alloys

V is the only element in the periodic table that forms a complete solid solution with Cr and thus is particularly important in alloying strategy to ductilize Cr. This study combines first-principles density functional theory calculations and experiments to investigate the phase stability and elastic properties of Cr–V binary alloys. The cluster expansion study reveals the formation of various ordered compounds at low temperatures that were not previously known. These compounds become unstable due to the configurational entropy of bcc solid solution as the temperature is increased. The elastic constants of ordered and disordered compounds are calculated at both T = 0 K and finite temperatures. The overall trends in elastic properties are in agreement with measurements using the resonant ultrasound spectroscopy method. The calculations predict that addition of V to Cr decreases both the bulk modulus and the shear modulus, and enhances the Poisson’s ratio, in agreement with experiments. Decrease in the bulk modulus is correlated to decrease in the valence electron density and increase in the lattice constant. An enhanced Poisson’s ratio for bcc Cr–V alloys (compared to pure Cr) is associated with an increased density of states at the Fermi level. Furthermore, the difference charge density in the bonding region in the (110) slip plane is highest for pure Cr and decreases gradually as V is added. The present calculation also predicts a negative Cauchy pressure for pure Cr, and it becomes positive upon alloying with V. The intrinsic ductilizing effect from V may contribute, at least partially, to the experimentally observed ductilizing phenomenon in the literature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Structural Determinants of the Binding and Activation of Estrogen Receptor α by Phenolic Thieno[2,3- d ]pyrimidines

Synthetic, structural, and computational approaches were used to solve the puzzle as to how a phenolic nonsteroidal estrogen 1 with only a single H-bond to its receptor was more potent than an isomer 2 which formed an intricate network of H-bonds. Synthesis of a series of substituted phenols revealed that pK a was not a determinant of estrogenic activity. First-principles calculation also failed to explain the difference in activity of 1 and 2. Molecular dynamics revealed that 1 formed a more stable receptor complex compared to 2, which may explain its increased activity despite forming fewer apparent H-bonds with the protein.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

CHARACTERIZING THE INFRARED SPECTRA OF SMALL, NEUTRAL, FULLY DEHYDROGENATED POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS

We present the results of a computational study to investigate the infrared spectroscopic properties of a large number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules and their fully dehydrogenated counterparts. We constructed a database of fully optimized geometries for PAHs that is complete for eight or fewer fused benzene rings, thus containing 1550 PAHs and 805 fully dehydrogenated aromatics. A large fraction of the species in our database have clearly non-planar or curved geometries. For each species, we determined the frequencies and intensities of their normal modes using density functional theory calculations. Whereas most PAH spectra are fairly similar, the spectra of fully dehydrogenated aromatics are much more diverse. Nevertheless, these fully dehydrogenated species show characteristic emission features at 5.2 μm, 5.5 μm, and 10.6 μm; at longer wavelengths, there is a forest of emission features in the 16-30 μm range that appears as a structured continuum, but with a clear peak centered around 19 μm. We searched for these features in Spitzer-IRS spectra of various positions in the reflection nebula NGC 7023. We find a weak emission feature at 10.68 μm in all positions except that closest to the central star. We also find evidence for a weak 19 μm feature at all positions that is not likely due to C{sub 60}. We interpret these features as tentative evidence for the presence of a small population of fully dehydrogenated PAHs, and discuss our results in the framework of PAH photolysis and the formation of fullerenes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Deep chalcogen donors and electron localization in aluminum nitride

Abstract We show with hybrid density functional theory calculations that chalcogen donors other than oxygen (i.e. S N , Se N , and Te N ) give rise to deep donor states in aluminum nitride. These donors trap a localized electron in their neutral charge state, leading to deep ( + / 0 ) donor levels that are 0.45 eV or more from the conduction-band edge. As such, this behavior is distinct from the DX behavior leads to deep (+/−) levels which affects other donors such as O N and Si Al . We highlight how these results hint at the formation of small electron polarons in AlN, which are found to be unstable in the bulk, but metastable when bound to donor dopants like Si Al and the chalocogens, with activation energies on the order of 0.2–0.3 eV. These results indicate that S, Se, and Te are not shallow donor dopants in aluminum nitride and identify origins of the experimentally observed ∼200–300 meV activation energies for dopant activation in donor-doped samples.

aluminum nitride↗
DOE OSTI2024

Thermochemical Data for Furan-based Monomer Candidates for Frontal Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (FROMP)

This dataset includes 471 furan-based monomer candidates for frontal ring-opening metathesis polymerization (FROMP) and relevant thermochemistry as calculated with density functional theory (DFT). The monomer candidates were combinatorically enumerated using Diels-Alder reactions of furan derivatives as dienes and four types of dienophiles (alkenes, alkynes, allenes, and benzynes). Common substituents were enumerated for the dienophile classes, and methyl substitution on the diene was explored. We used the SMILES arbitrary target specification (SMARTS) language to produce monomers and ring-opened structures from diene and dienophile precursor SMILES, and we studied the ring-opening reaction using a homodesmotic equation with ethene. RDKit conformers were initially generated from SMILES, then optimized with GFN2-xTB. The two conformers lowest in energy were then optimized with DFT using the wb97x-D3 functional, def2-TZVP basis set, and def2/J auxiliary basis set. Gibbs free energy corrections were obtained through frequency calculations. Structures with imaginary frequencies below -50 cm^{-1} were excluded from this work, and smaller imaginary modes were flipped to be positive for free energy calculations. Modes below 50 cm^{-1} were treated with the modified rigid rotor approximation, and all thermochemical values were calculated at T=200C. The CSV file contains the monomer SMILES, the free energy of reaction for Diels-Alder addition (G_DA_200), and the enthalpy of the ring-opening reaction (H_RO_200). All energies are given in kcal/mol. An interactive HTML is also included to visualize the monomers in this dataset.

Chua, Lauren↗
DOE OSTI2024

Enhancing Nitrogen Activation in Electrochemical Reduction: The Role of Rare Earth Oxide Surface Configurations

The pursuit of sustainable ammonia synthesis has prompted the exploration of ambient electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (e-NRR) as an alternative to the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. Here, this study conducted a theoretical investigation into the use of rare earth oxide materials, specifically dysprosium oxide (Dy 2 O 3 ), as potential electrocatalysts for NRR. Utilizing spin-polarized density functional theory calculations, we explored the interaction between Dy 2 O 3 surfaces and nitrogen (N 2 ) molecules, examining the capability of Dy 2 O 3 to adsorb and activate N 2 under ambient conditions. The results indicate that Dy 2 O 3 surfaces exhibit diverse configurations and bonding environments, providing a variety of reactive sites that display different behaviors in N 2 adsorption and activation. The distinctive electronic structure and surface chemistry of a particular Dy 2 O 3 surface configuration were found to significantly enhance the activation of N 2 by promoting charge transfer, which facilitates the NRR process. This research provides deep insights into the mechanistic pathways of N 2 reduction over Dy 2 O 3 , highlighting the surface properties as pivotal in catalysis. These theoretical insights serve as a foundation for the development of novel rare earth-based electrocatalytic materials for efficient ambient e-NRR, potentially transforming ammonia production into a greener and more energy-efficient process.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Activation of N 2 on Manganese Nitride-Supported Ni 3 and Fe 3 Clusters and Relevance to Ammonia Formation

Dual-site models were constructed to represent manganese nitride (Mn 4 N)-supported Ni 3 and Fe 3 clusters for NH 3 synthesis. Density functional theory calculations produced an energy barrier of approximately 0.55 eV for N–N bond activation at the interfacial nitrogen vacancy sites (N v ); also, the hydrogenation and removal of interfacial N is promoted by earth-abundant Ni and Fe metals. Steady-state microkinetic modeling revealed that the turnover frequencies of NH 3 production follow an order of Fe 3 @Mn 4 N ≈ Ni 3 @Mn 4 N > Mn 4 N > Fe >> Ni. Moreover, we present clear evidence that, before NH 3 formation, NH migrates from N v onto the metallic sites. Using N binding energy (BE N ) and the transition-state energy of N 2 activation (E TS ) as descriptors, we concluded that the beneficial effects owing to interfacial N v sites are the most pronounced when BE N is either too strong or too weak while E TS is high; otherwise, excessive N v sites may hinder catalyst performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Structural properties of Bi{sub 2−x}Mn{sub x}Se{sub 3} thin films grown via molecular beam epitaxy

The effects of Mn doping on the structural properties of the topological insulator Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} in thin film form were studied in samples grown via molecular beam epitaxy. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure measurements, supported by density functional theory calculations, indicate that preferential incorporation occurs substitutionally in Bi sites across the entire film volume. This finding is consistent with x-ray diffraction measurements which show that the out of plane lattice constant expands while the in plane lattice constant contracts as the Mn concentration is increased. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates that the Mn valency is 2+ and that the Mn bonding is similar to that in MnSe. The expansion along the out of plane direction is most likely due to weakening of the Van der Waals interactions between adjacent Se planes. Transport measurements are consistent with this Mn{sup 2+} substitution of Bi sites if additional structural defects induced by this substitution are taken into account.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Chemical pressure effect on the optical conductivity of the nodal-line semimetals ZrSi Y ( Y = S,Se,Te) and ZrGe Y ( Y = S,Te)

ZrSiS is a nodal-line semimetal, whose electronic band structure contains a diamond-shaped line of Dirac nodes. We carried out a comparative study on the optical conductivity of ZrSiS and the related compounds ZrSiSe, ZrSiTe, ZrGeS, and ZrGeTe by reflectivity measurements over a broad frequency range combined with density functional theory calculations. The optical conductivity exhibits a distinct U shape, ending at a sharp peak at around 10 000 cm –1 for all studied compounds except for ZrSiTe. The U shape of the optical conductivity is due to transitions between the linearly dispersing bands crossing each other along the nodal line. The sharp high-energy peak is related to transitions between almost parallel bands, and its energy position depends on the interlayer bonding correlated with the c/a ratio, which can be tuned by either chemical or external pressure. For ZrSiTe, another pair of crossing bands appears in the vicinity of the Fermi level, corrugating the nodal-line electronic structure and leading to the observed difference in optical conductivity. Here, the findings suggest that the Dirac physics in ZrXY compounds with X = Si,Ge and Y = S,Se,Te is closely connected to the interlayer bonding.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Crystal chemical characterization of mullite-type aluminum borate compounds

Al-rich aluminum borates were prepared by different synthesis routes using various Al/B ratios, characterized by diffraction methods, spectroscopy and prompt gamma activation analysis. The {sup 11}B NMR data show a small amount of BO{sub 4} species in all samples. The chemical analysis indicates a trend in the Al/B ratio instead of a fixed composition. Both methods indicate a solid solution Al{sub 5−x}B{sub 1+x}O{sub 9} where Al is substituted by B in the range of 1–3%. The structure of B-rich Al{sub 4}B{sub 2}O{sub 9} (C2/m, a=1488 pm, b=553 pm, c=1502 pm, ß=90.6°), was re-investigated by electron diffraction methods, showing that structural details vary within a crystallite. In most of the domains the atoms are orderly distributed, showing no signal for the postulated channel oxygen atom O5. The absence of O5 is supported by density functional theory calculations. Other domains show a probable disordered configuration of O5 and O10, indicated by diffuse scattering along the b direction. - Graphical abstract: Projections of three-dimensional electron diffraction space of Al{sub 4}B{sub 2}O{sub 9} along the main directions. - Highlights: • The crystal structure of Al{sub 4}B{sub 2}O{sub 9} was re-evaluated. • Structural details vary among different crystals and inside Al{sub 4}B{sub 2}O{sub 9} crystallites. • Diffuse scattering indicate a probable disordered configuration of O5 and O10. • A solid solution series for Al{sub 5−x}B{sub x}O{sub 9} is indicated by PGAA and NMR spectroscopy. • The presence of BO{sub 4} groups is confirmed by {sup 11}B MAS NMR spectroscopy for Al{sub 5−x}B{sub 1+x}O{sub 9}.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Strain tunable ferroelectric and dielectric properties of BaZrO{sub 3}

The crucial role of epitaxial (in-plane) strain on the structural, electronic, energetic, ferroelectric, and dielectric properties of BaZrO{sub 3} (BZO) is investigated using density-functional theory calculations. We demonstrate that the BZO crystal subjected to a critical compressive (or tensile) strain exhibits non-trivial spontaneous polarization that is higher than that of well-known ferroelectrics BaTiO{sub 3}, while the BZO crystal is essentially paraelectric in the absence of strain. The electronic structure and Born-effective-charge analyses elucidate that the strain-induced paraelectric-to-ferroelectric transition is driven by the orbital hybridization of d-p electrons between zirconium and oxygen. Through the strain-induced paraelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition, the dielectric response of BZO is significantly enhanced by the in-plane strain. The tensile strain increases the in-plane dielectric constant by a factor of seven with respect to that without the strain, while the compression tends to enhance the out-of-plane dielectric response. Therefore, strain engineering makes BZO an important electromechanical material due to the diversity in ferroelectric and dielectric properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Substrate doping: A strategy for enhancing reactivity on gold nanocatalysts by tuning sp bands

We suggest that the reactivity of Au nanocatalysts can be greatly increased by doping the oxide substrate on which they are placed with an electron donor. To demonstrate this, we perform density functional theory calculations on a model system consisting of a 20-atom gold cluster placed on a MgO substrate doped with Al atoms. We show that not only does such substrate doping switch the morphology of the nanoparticles from the three-dimensional tetrahedral form to the two-dimensional planar form, but it also significantly lowers the barrier for oxygen dissociation by an amount proportional to the dopant concentration. At a doping level of 2.78%, the dissociation barrier is reduced by more than half, which corresponds to a speeding up of the oxygen dissociation rate by five orders of magnitude at room temperature. This arises from a lowering in energy of the s and p states of Au. The d states are also lowered in energy, however, this by itself would have tended to reduce reactivity. We propose that a suitable measure of the reactivity of Au nanoparticles is the difference in energy of sp and d states.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Surface Reactivity of Ag-Modified Ceria to Hydrogen: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Investigation

We investigate the mechanism of H 2 activation on Ag-modified cerium oxide surfaces, of interest for different catalytic applications. The study is performed on thin epitaxial cerium oxide films, investigated by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy to assess the changes of both the Ag oxidation state and the concentration of Ce 3+ ions, O vacancies, and hydroxyl groups on the surface during thermal reduction cycles in vacuum and under hydrogen exposure. The results are interpreted using density functional theory calculations to model pristine and Ag-modified ceria surfaces. Although the reactivity of ceria toward H 2 oxidation improves when a fraction of Ce cations is substituted with Ag, the concentration of reduced Ce 3+ ions in Ag-modified ceria is found to be lower than in pure ceria under the same conditions. This behavior is observed even though the number of surface oxygen vacancies caused by the thermal treatment under hydrogen exposure is larger for the Ag-modified surface. These results are explained in terms of a change of the oxidation state of the surface Ag, which is able to acquire some of the extra surface electrons created by the oxygen vacancies and the adsorbed hydrogen atoms. Our findings provide new insights into the reactivity of Ag-modified ceria, which has been proposed as a promising alternative to platinum electrodes in electrochemical devices.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Oxidative Cross-Esterification and Related Pathways of Co-Adsorbed Oxygen and Ethanol on Pd–Au

Ethanol is one of the most important industrial chemicals considering its wide range of uses. From ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) experiments, we were able to effectively produce acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate on a Pd–Au model catalyst. The presence of oxygen at the Pd–Au interface sites was found to be highly reactive for ethanol dehydrogenation, significantly increasing acetaldehyde production and promoting cross-esterification to produce ethyl acetate. Density functional theory calculations show that compared to the bare PdAu(111) surface, the presence of preadsorbed oxygen and the subsequently formed hydroxyl group leads to highly active and selective initial ethanol dehydrogenation at the O–H and α–C-H position, which was corroborated by isotope-labeling experiments. Specifically, using temperature-programmed desorption with the isotope CD 3 CH2OH, we identified C–C bond breakage through methane production. Furthermore, the simultaneous desorption of D2 with ethyl acetate from the oxidation of CD 3 CD 2 OD suggests that the abstraction of hydrogen from acetaldehyde and/or ethanol is a relevant step in ethyl acetate production, which is supported by our theoretical predictions. These results shed light on the mechanistic pathways of having oxygen and ethanol coadsorbed on Pd–Au surfaces, which has significant implications for industrial applications such as fuel cells where catalytic design plays a major role in the efficiency of power production.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Soft x-ray spectroscopy of ammonium sulfate aerosols at varied pH conditions

Aqueous aerosols are useful model systems for understanding the physical chemistry that takes place in the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the chemistry of other solar system objects. Ammonium sulfate aerosols are impacted by anthropogenic sources such as farming and shipping and are understood to be important seeds of cloud nucleation in the atmosphere, affecting climate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy were used in tandem to probe the surface and bulk properties of aqueous (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , respectively. Aerosolized solutions of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , some altered with NaOH to modify pH, were introduced via an aerodynamic lens to a velocity map imaging instrument for detection. The results show that as pH and sodium cation concentration increase, sulfate anion and ammonia become more prevalent at the surface, and the aerosol surface appears to become drier. However, most of the aerosol remains aqueous, with ion concentrations insensitive to the addition of NaOH. Density functional theory calculations were also performed to probe the coordination environment at the aerosol surfaces to understand the underlying phenomena. Finally, the changes seen on the surface of the aerosol underscore the importance of pH in regulating the structure and chemical properties of atmospherically relevant aerosols.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Roles of Hydration and Magnetism on the Structure of Ferrihydrite from First Principles

We report density functional theory calculations aimed at predicting thermodynamically stable structures for ferrihydrite across a range of possible compositions determined by the amount of structural water. Based on an assumed formula unit of Fe5O8H + nH2O, we performed ab initio calculations with evolutionary searching to find the lowest enthalpy structures as a function of the water content up to n = 2. This is the most exhaustive search for the ferrihydrite structure conducted so far; more than 5000 unique configurations were generated and evaluated over five states of hydration. Among them, the Michel akdaliate model was generated, along with several energetically comparable new structures at higher states of hydration. However, a direct comparison between calculated and experimental pair distribution function and X-ray diffraction patterns for the 50 lowest energy structures shows that none beyond the Michel model could be associated with ferrihydrite. Nevertheless, this energetically comparable structure set provides a novel basis for analyzing and understanding the effects of hydration and magnetism on the topology of ferrihydrite, from which we conclude that any tetrahedral Fe should be viewed as a metastable structural defect, created either as a result of the rapid kinetics of crystal growth or to accommodate a local magnetic stress between neighboring Fe atoms.

composition, density functional theory, ferrihydri↗
DOE OSTI2014

Density functional study of CaN mono and bilayer on Cu(001)

Density functional - pseudopotential calculations are performed to provide first-principles insights into magnetic behaviour of bulk CaN and CaN monolayers on Cu(001) in the rock-salt (RS) and zinc-blende (ZB) structures. Our results indicate that both RS- and ZB-CaN exhibit half-metallic ferromagnetism originated from the incomplete 2p shell of the nitrogen ion. In contrast to the bulk CaN, the CaN monolayers on Cu(001) generally favor ZB structure. We argue that the more stable ZB-CaN thin films on Cu(001) are nonmagnetic, because of strong Cu-N bonding at the interface, while the less stable Ca terminated ZB-CaN thin films exhibit half-metallic ferromagnetism. The transition path between the high energy ferromagnetic and the stable nonmagnetic configurations of the ZB-CaN monolayer on Cu(001) are studied by using the nudged elastic band method. We observe a two stages transition and an activation barrier of about 1.18 eV in the minimum energy path of this transition.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Deviational simulation of phonon transport in graphene ribbons with ab initio scattering

We present a deviational Monte Carlo method for solving the Boltzmann-Peierls equation with ab initio 3-phonon scattering, for temporally and spatially dependent thermal transport problems in arbitrary geometries. Phonon dispersion relations and transition rates for graphene are obtained from density functional theory calculations. The ab initio scattering operator is simulated by an energy-conserving stochastic algorithm embedded within a deviational, low-variance Monte Carlo formulation. The deviational formulation ensures that simulations are computationally feasible for arbitrarily small temperature differences, while the stochastic treatment of the scattering operator is both efficient and exhibits no timestep error. The proposed method, in which geometry and phonon-boundary scattering are explicitly treated, is extensively validated by comparison to analytical results, previous numerical solutions and experiments. It is subsequently used to generate solutions for heat transport in graphene ribbons of various geometries and evaluate the validity of some common approximations found in the literature. Our results show that modeling transport in long ribbons of finite width using the homogeneous Boltzmann equation and approximating phonon-boundary scattering using an additional homogeneous scattering rate introduces an error on the order of 10% at room temperature, with the maximum deviation reaching 30% in the middle of the transition regime.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗