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At least 91 records · Page 5

Unraveling Electronic Trends in O* and OH* Surface Adsorption in the MO 2 Transition-Metal Oxide Series

Understanding the bond strength of O* and OH* intermediates to metal-oxide surfaces is key to predicting the catalytic activity in oxygen-based electrochemistry. Here, we uncover highly non-linear trends in O* and OH* adsorption energies across the 3d, 4d, and 5d series of MO 2 transition-metal (TM) oxide surfaces computed within Hubbard- U corrected density functional theory (DFT + U ). Investigating the electronic structure with crystal orbital Hamiltonian populations (COHP) of the relevant metal–oxygen bonds reveals that the spin-dependent coupling strength between metal-d and oxygen-2p atomic orbitals together with the extent of filling of bonding and anti-bonding orbitals are the primary contributors to the adsorption energy. Importantly, we show that the integrated COHP obtained purely from bulk calculations is a highly accurate descriptor for surface adsorption energetics that captures trends across the group 5–12 TM oxide series within 0.19–0.36 eV. Our results suggest a pathway to prediction of adsorption energies for an arbitrary metal–ligand catalyst system.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Comparison of Hyperthermal Ground Laboratory Atomic Oxygen Erosion Yields With Those in Low Earth Orbit

The atomic oxygen erosion yields of 26 materials (all polymers except for pyrolytic graphite) were measured in two directed hyperthermal radio frequency (RF) plasma ashers operating at 30 or 35 kHz with air. The hyperthermal asher results were compared with thermal energy asher results and low Earth orbital (LEO) results from the Materials International Space Station Experiment 2 and 7 (MISSE 2 and 7) flight experiments. The hyperthermal testing was conducted to a significant portion of the atomic oxygen fluence similar polymers were exposed to during the MISSE 2 and 7 missions. Comparison of the hyperthermal asher prediction of LEO erosion yields with thermal energy asher erosion yields indicates that except for the fluorocarbon polymers of PTFE and FEP, the hyperthermal energy ashers are a much more reliable predictor of LEO erosion yield than thermal energy asher testing, by a factor of four.

Flight tests↗

Exchange correlation potentials from full configuration interaction in a Slater orbital basis

Ryabinkin–Kohut–Staroverov (RKS) theory builds a bridge between wave function theory and density functional theory by using quantities from the former to produce accurate exchange-correlation potentials needed by the latter. In this work, the RKS method is developed and tested alongside Slater atomic orbital basis functions for the first time. To evaluate this approach, full configuration interaction computations in the Slater orbital basis are employed to give quality input to RKS, allowing full correlation to be present along with correct nuclei cusps and asymptotic decay of the wavefunction. SlaterRKS is shown to be an efficient algorithm to arrive at exchange-correlation potentials without unphysical artifacts in moderately-sized basis sets. Furthermore, enforcement of the nuclear cusp conditions will be shown to be vital for the success of the Slater-basis RKS method. As a result, examples of weakly and strongly correlated molecular systems will demonstrate the main features of SlaterRKS.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Study of different approximation in the calculation of g tensors - H2/+/

The theory of the g tensor in one-electron systems is briefly reviewed and calculations are performed in several ways for the hydrogen molecular ion in order to test approximations which must be made for larger systems. Approximate ground state wavefunctions are determined variationally. The first-order wavefunction with respect to the orbit-field perturbation is calculated, and the second-order g tensor is determined. The results of the various approximate calculations are compared and discussed. It is found that the linear combination of atomic orbitals method is rather poor and that two center integrals cannot be neglected.

De Montgolfier, P.↗

Exact-Two-Component Complete Active Space Method with Variational Treatment of Magnetic Field and Spin–Orbit Coupling: Application to X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy

We introduce an exact-two-component complete active space self-consistent-field (X2C-CASSCF) method formulated under the restricted-magnetic-balance condition. This framework allows for the nonperturbative treatment of static magnetic fields using gauge-including atomic orbitals (GIAOs). The GIAO-X2C-CASSCF methodology effectively captures all microstates within the same 2J + 1-degenerate manifold and their splitting in a static magnetic field, which are not accessible through single-reference-based methods. We also present mathematical recursive expressions for evaluating one-electron relativistic integrals by using GIAOs in the presence of a finite magnetic field. Benchmark studies include oxygen and nitrogen K-edge X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy (XMCD) for closed-shell organic compounds, as well as L-edge XMCD spectroscopy for the high-spin open-shell transition metal ion Mn 2+ and the tetrahedral Mn(II)O 4 6– complex.

Chemical calculations↗

Experimental Verification of Ir 5d Orbital States and Atomic Structures in Highly Active Amorphous Iridium Oxide Catalysts

In iridium oxide catalysts, the electronic states whose energies are in the range of energetics and charge transfer kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) originate from the Ir 5d orbital states. However, the understanding of the atomic structures and orbital states underlying catalytic reactivity in amorphous iridium oxide oxygen evolving catalysts (Ir-OECs) is incomplete compared to that of crystalline oxides, owing to a lack of direct experimental verification. Here, we present experimental approaches using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) to directly access Ir 5d orbital excitations at the Ir L 3 edge and atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measurements to characterize electronic and coordination structures at the atomic scale. The so-called iridium blue layer (IrBL) and IrO x were formed from the organometallic precursor complex [Cp*Ir(H 2 O) 3 ]SO 4 and the inorganic precursor IrCl 3 , respectively. Ex situ IrBL and IrO x films for RIXS and PDF measurements were prepared by conditioning electrodeposited films at a low voltage. The incident energy RIXS profile of IrO x exhibited extra weak resonantly enhanced excitation below 2 eV energy loss. The feature was clearly different from a single high-energy excitation above 3 eV of IrBL related to the interband transition between π- and σ-antibonding states. The atomic structure refinement based on PDF measurements revealed the atomic structure domains to have edge- and corner-shared IrO 6 octahedra with trigonal-type distortion. Furthermore, density functional theory calculations guided by the refined atomic structures shed light on the electronic structure corresponding to experimental results, including insulating and metallic phases in ex situ IrBL and IrO x films, respectively. Our study establishes different Ir 5d orbital states and atomic structures in two amorphous Ir oxide OER catalysts in their reduction states.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Competition between Hydrogen and Chalcogen Bonding in Homodimers of Chalcogen Hydrides (H 2 X) 2 , X = O, S, Se, Te

The structural and chemical bonding motifs manifested by the competition between hydrogen and chalcogen bonding in the homodimers of chalcogen hydrides (H 2 X) 2 , where X = O, S, Se, Te have been characterized using high-level electronic structure calculations and analysis of the electron density based on Quasi-atomic orbital (QUAO) and the Symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) methods. The QUAO analysis clearly identifies a three-center interaction responsible for either hydrogen or chalcogen bonds: in the former, the σ-bond connecting the donor and hydrogen atom participating in the hydrogen bond interacts with the lone pair on the nucleophile acceptor via the hydrogen atom, while in the latter this same σ-bond interacts with the nucleophile lone pair via the donor chalcogen. The number of minimum energy structures increase dramatically from one for (H 2 O) 2 , three for (H 2 S) 2 , four for (H 2 Se) 2 , and finally six for (H 2 Te) 2 . Furthermore, the emergence of the chalcogen-bonded arrangements appears for (H 2 S) 2 with their subsequent energetic stabilization over the hydrogen-bonded minima manifesting in (H 2 Se) 2 and (H 2 Te) 2 . In particular, one of the (H 2 S) 2 , two of the (H 2 Se) 2 , and three of the (H 2 Te) 2 dimers are chalcogen bonded. Induction plays a small but important role in stabilizing hydrogen over chalcogen-bonded structures, while dispersion is more important for chalcogen bonds.

Chemical structure↗

Topological alloy engineering and locally linearized gap dependence on concentration

Alloy engineering is a well-established approach to tune various materials’ properties, but its application to topological alloys remains rudimentary. Of special interest is the band gap, the most defining property of topological materials; however, the concentration dependence of energy gaps in topological alloys remains unknown. Here we systematically investigate the band gap evolution of a topological alloy as a function of alloy concentration, using KZnSb 1-x Bi x as a prototype, based on first-principles calculations. In contrast to the well-established smooth bowing curve for a trivial gap in semiconductor alloys, we found that the topological gap evolves generally with a complex fragmented pattern due to topological phase transitions, and most strikingly a linear dependence on concentration locally in each distinct phase. Such gap linearization is fundamentally rooted in the linear dependence on alloy concentration of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) that predominantly determines a topological gap. Furthermore, we demonstrate topological alloy engineering as a general approach to tune the topological order by modulating the band edge composition and degeneracy through the alloying-induced interplay of SOC and atomic orbital on-site energy, while the linear gap dependence on alloy concentration remains independent of the degree of topological order.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A static quantum embedding scheme based on coupled cluster theory

Here, we develop a static quantum embedding scheme that utilizes different levels of approximations to coupled cluster (CC) theory for an active fragment region and its environment. To reduce the computational cost, we solve the local fragment problem using a high-level CC method and address the environment problem with a lower-level Møller–Plesset (MP) perturbative method. This embedding approach inherits many conceptual developments from the hybrid second-order Møller–Plesset (MP2) and CC works by Nooijen [J. Chem. Phys. 111, 10815 (1999)] and Bochevarov and Sherrill [J. Chem. Phys. 122, 234110 (2005)]. We go beyond those works here by primarily targeting a specific localized fragment of a molecule and also introducing an alternative mechanism to relax the environment within this framework. We will call this approach MP-CC. We demonstrate the effectiveness of MP-CC on several potential energy curves and a set of thermochemical reaction energies, using CC with singles and doubles as the fragment solver, and MP2-like treatments of the environment. The results are substantially improved by the inclusion of orbital relaxation in the environment. Using localized bonds as the active fragment, we also report results for N=N bond breaking in azomethane and for the central C–C bond torsion in butadiene. We find that when the fragment Hilbert space size remains fixed (e.g., when determined by an intrinsic atomic orbital approach), the method achieves comparable accuracy with both a small and a large basis set. Additionally, our results indicate that increasing the fragment Hilbert space size systematically enhances the accuracy of observables, approaching the precision of the full CC solver.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Porting fragmentation methods to GPUs using an OpenMP API: Offloading the resolution-of-the-identity second-order Møller–Plesset perturbation method

Here, using an OpenMP Application Programming Interface, the resolution-of-the-identity second-order Møller–Plesset perturbation (RI-MP2) method has been off-loaded onto graphical processing units (GPUs), both as a standalone method in the GAMESS electronic structure program and as an electron correlation energy component in the effective fragment molecular orbital (EFMO) framework. First, a new scheme has been proposed to maximize data digestion on GPUs that subsequently linearizes data transfer from central processing units (CPUs) to GPUs. Second, the GAMESS Fortran code has been interfaced with GPU numerical libraries (e.g., NVIDIA cuBLAS and cuSOLVER) for efficient matrix operations (e.g., matrix multiplication, matrix decomposition, and matrix inversion). The standalone GPU RI-MP2 code shows an increasing speedup of up to 7.5× using one NVIDIA V100 GPU with one IBM 42-core P9 CPU for calculations on fullerenes of increasing size from 40 to 260 carbon atoms using the 6-31G(d)/cc-pVDZ-RI basis sets. A single Summit node with six V100s can compute the RI-MP2 correlation energy of a cluster of 175 water molecules using the correlation consistent basis sets cc-pVDZ/cc-pVDZ-RI containing 4375 atomic orbitals and 14 700 auxiliary basis functions in ~0.85 h. In the EFMO framework, the GPU RI-MP2 component shows near linear scaling for a large number of V100s when computing the energy of an 1800-atom mesoporous silica nanoparticle in a bath of 4000 water molecules. The parallel efficiencies of the GPU RI-MP2 component with 2304 and 4608 V100s are 98.0% and 96.1%, respectively.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Molecular orbital projectors in non-empirical jmDFT recover exact conditions in transition-metal chemistry

Low-cost, non-empirical corrections to semi-local density functional theory are essential for accurately modeling transition-metal chemistry. Here, we demonstrate the judiciously modified density functional theory (jmDFT) approach with non-empirical U and J parameters obtained directly from frontier orbital energetics on a series of transition-metal complexes. We curate a set of nine representative Ti(III) and V(IV) d 1 transition-metal complexes and evaluate their flat-plane errors along the fractional spin and charge lines. We demonstrate that while jmDFT improves upon both DFT+U and semi-local DFT with the standard atomic orbital projectors (AOPs), it does so inefficiently. We rationalize these inefficiencies by quantifying hybridization in the relevant frontier orbitals. To overcome these limitations, we introduce a procedure for computing a molecular orbital projector (MOP) basis for use with jmDFT. We demonstrate this single set of d 1 MOPs to be suitable for nearly eliminating all energetic delocalization and static correlation errors. In all cases, MOP jmDFT outperforms AOP jmDFT, and it eliminates most flat-plane errors at non-empirical values. Unlike DFT+U or hybrid functionals, jmDFT nearly eliminates energetic delocalization and static correlation errors within a non-empirical framework.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Non-resonant Raman optical activity from phase-space electronic structure theory

In order to model experimental non-resonant Raman optical activity, chemists must compute a host of second-order response tensors (e.g., the electric-dipole–magnetic-dipole polarizability) and their nuclear derivatives along a set of vibrational modes. While these response functions are almost always computed within a Born–Oppenheimer (BO) framework, here we provide a natural interpretation of the electric-dipole–magnetic-dipole polarizability within phase space electronic structure theory, a beyond-BO model whereby the electronic structure depends on nuclear momentum (P) in addition to nuclear position (R). By coupling to nuclear momentum, phase space electronic structure theory is able to capture the asymmetric response of the electronic properties to an external field, in so far as for a vibrating (non-stationary) molecule, $\frac{∂μ}{∂B}$≠$\frac{∂m}{∂F}$, where μ and m are the electrical linear and magnetic dipoles, and F and B are electric and magnetic fields. As an example, for a prototypical methyloxirane molecule, we show that phase space electronic structure theory is able to deliver a reasonably good match with experimental results in a manner that is formally invariant to gauge origin G 0 —provided that one uses a complete basis or, alternatively, gauge invariant atomic orbitals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Solution of multi-center molecular integrals of Slater-type orbitals

The troublesome multi-center molecular integrals of Slater-type orbitals (STO) in molecular physics calculations can be evaluated by using the Fourier transform and proper coupling of the two center exchange integrals. A numerical integration procedure is then readily rendered to the final expression in which the integrand consists of well known special functions of arguments containing the geometrical arrangement of the nuclear centers and the exponents of the atomic orbitals. A practical procedure was devised for the calculation of a general multi-center molecular integrals coupling arbitrary Slater-type orbitals. Symmetry relations and asymptotic conditions are discussed. Explicit expressions of three-center one-electron nuclear-attraction integrals and four-center two-electron repulsion integrals for STO of principal quantum number n=2 are listed. A few numerical results are given for the purpose of comparison.

Tai, H.↗

Atomic oxygen stimulated outgassing

The passive Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) Experiment A0034, Atomic Oxygen Simulated Outgassing, consisted of two identical one-sixth tray modules, exposing selected thermal control coatings to atomic oxygen and the combined space environment on the leading edge and, for reference, to the relative wake environment on the trailing edge. Optical mirrors were included adjacent to the thermal coatings for deposition of outgassing products. Ultraviolet grade windows and metal covers were provided for additional assessment of the effects of the various environmental factors. Preliminary results indicate that orbital atomic oxygen is both a degrading and a optically restorative factor in the thermo-optical properties of selected thermal coatings. There is evidence of more severe optical degradation on collector mirrors adjacent to coatings that were exposed to the RAM-impinging atomic oxygen. This evidence of atomic oxygen stimulated outgassing is discussed in relation to alternative factors that could affect degradation. The general effects of the space environment on the experiment hardware as well as the specimens are discussed.

Linton, Roger C.↗

LDEF experiment A0034: Atomic oxygen stimulated outgassing

The passive Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) Experiment A0034, 'Atomic Oxygen Stimulated Outgassing', consisted of two identical one-sixth tray modules, exposing selected thermal control coatings to atomic oxygen and the combined space environment on the leading edge, and for reference, to the relative 'wake' environment of the trailing edge. Optical mirrors were included adjacent to the thermal coatings for deposition of the outgassing products. Ultraviolet grade windows and metal covers were provided for additional assessment of the effects of various environmental factors. Preliminary results indicate that orbital atomic oxygen is both a degrading and optically restorative factor in the thermo-optical properties of selected thermal coatings. There is evidence of more severe optical degradation on collector mirrors adjacent to coatings that were exposed to RAM-impinging atomic oxygen. This evidence of atomic oxygen stimulated outgassing is discussed in relation to alternative factors that could affect degradation. The general effects of the space environment on the experiment hardware as well as the specimens are discussed.

Linton, Roger C.↗

Assessing MP2 frozen natural orbitals in relativistic correlated electronic structure calculations

The high computational scaling with the basis set size and the number of correlated electrons is a bottleneck limiting applications of coupled cluster algorithms, in particular for calculations based on two- or four-component relativistic Hamiltonians, which often employ uncontracted basis sets. This problem may be alleviated by replacing canonical Hartree–Fock virtual orbitals by natural orbitals (NOs). Here, in this paper, we describe the implementation of a module for generating NOs for correlated wavefunctions and, in particular, second order Møller–Plesset perturbation frozen natural orbitals (MP2FNOs) as a component of our novel implementation of relativistic coupled cluster theory for massively parallel architectures [Pototschnig et al. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 17, 5509, (2021)]. Our implementation can manipulate complex or quaternion density matrices, thus allowing for the generation of both Kramers-restricted and Kramers-unrestricted MP2FNOs. Furthermore, NOs are re-expressed in the parent atomic orbital (AO) basis, allowing for generating coupled cluster singles and doubles NOs in the AO basis for further analysis. By investigating the truncation errors of MP2FNOs for both the correlation energy and molecular properties—electric field gradients at the nuclei, electric dipole and quadrupole moments for hydrogen halides HX (X = F–Ts), and parity-violating energy differences for H 2 Z 2 (Z = O–Se)—we find MP2FNOs accelerate the convergence of the correlation energy in a roughly uniform manner across the Periodic Table. It is possible to obtain reliable estimates for both energies and the molecular properties considered with virtual molecular orbital spaces truncated to about half the size of the full spaces.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

GPAW: An open Python package for electronic structure calculations

We review the GPAW open-source Python package for electronic structure calculations. GPAW is based on the projector-augmented wave method and can solve the self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) equations using three different wave-function representations, namely real-space grids, plane waves, and numerical atomic orbitals. The three representations are complementary and mutually independent and can be connected by transformations via the real-space grid. This multi-basis feature renders GPAW highly versatile and unique among similar codes. By virtue of its modular structure, the GPAW code constitutes an ideal platform for the implementation of new features and methodologies. Moreover, it is well integrated with the Atomic Simulation Environment (ASE), providing a flexible and dynamic user interface. In addition to ground-state DFT calculations, GPAW supports many-body GW band structures, optical excitations from the Bethe–Salpeter Equation, variational calculations of excited states in molecules and solids via direct optimization, and real-time propagation of the Kohn–Sham equations within time-dependent DFT. A range of more advanced methods to describe magnetic excitations and non-collinear magnetism in solids are also now available. In addition, GPAW can calculate non-linear optical tensors of solids, charged crystal point defects, and much more. Recently, support for graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration has been achieved with minor modifications to the GPAW code thanks to the CuPy library. We end the review with an outlook, describing some future plans for GPAW.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

An evaluation for geometries, formation enthalpies, and dissociation energies of diatomic and triatomic (C, H, N, O), NO 3 , and HNO 3 molecules from the PAW DFT method with PBE and optB88-vdW functionals

The structural geometries, formation enthalpies, and dissociation energies of all diatomic and triatomic molecules consisting of the four basic elements C, H, N, and/or O are calculated using the projector augmented wave density functional theory (DFT) method with the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof and optB88-vdW exchange-correlation functionals. The calculations are also extended to two larger molecules NO 3 and HNO 3 , which consist of four and five atoms, respectively. In total, 82 molecules or isomers are considered in the calculations. The geometric parameters including 42 bond lengths and 15 bond angles of these molecules calculated using the planewave DFT method are highly satisfactory, relative to the available experimental data. The error analysis is also performed for 49 formation enthalpies and 138 dissociation energies (including 51 atomization energies as well as the corresponding bond dissociation energies). The results are also compared with the previous data from various atomic-orbital-based methods for molecules and from similar or different planewave DFT methods for various solids and other molecules. This provides an informative and instructive evaluation especially for calculating the large-size material systems containing these small molecules as well as for developing the DFT methods further.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗