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The electronic structure of 7/9-AGNR superlattices with up to eight unit cells has been studied by means of state-of-the-art Density Functional Theory (DFT) and also by two model Hamiltonians, the first one including only local interactions (Hubbard model, Hu) while the second one is extended to allow long-range Coulomb interactions (Pariser, Parr and Pople model, PPP). Both are solved within mean field approximation. At this approximation level, our calculations show that 7/9 interfaces are better described by spin non-polarized solutions than by spin-polarized wavefunctions. Consequently, both Hu and PPP Hamiltonians lead to electronic structures characterized by a gap at the Fermi level that diminishes as the size of the system increases. DFT results show similar trends although a detailed analysis of the density of states around the Fermi level shows quantitative differences with both Hu and PPP models. Before improving model Hamiltonians, we interpret the electronic structure obtained by DFT in terms of bands of topological states: topological states localized at the system edges and extended bulk topological states that interact between them due to the long-range Coulomb terms of Hamiltonian. After careful analysis of the interaction among topological states, we find that the discrepancy between ab initio and model Hamiltonians can be resolved considering a screened long-range interaction that is implemented by adding an exponential cutoff to the interaction term of the PPP model. In this way, an adjusted cutoff distance λ = 2 allows a good recovery of DFT results. In view of this, we conclude that the correct description of the density of states around the Fermi level (Dirac point) needs the inclusion of long-range interactions well beyond the Hubbard model but not completely unscreened as is the case for the PPP model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes and herringbone carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs and hCNTs, respectively) has been successfully performed with aminophenylphosphonic acid isomers by potentiodynamic treatment under oxidative conditions. Exceptional selectivity and control of the functional species embedded into the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been achieved by carefully optimizing the electrochemical conditions in the functionalization. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis determined a maximum heteroatom incorporation of ca. 2.3–2.6 at% N and 1.4–1.6 at% P when 2-aminophenylphosphonic acid (2APPA) is used with both carbon materials, probably because of the linear polymeric growth comparable to that of oligomers derived from aniline (ANI). However, the polymeric product obtained with 4-aminophenylphosphonic acid (4APPA) is much more limited, giving rise to a branched structure. In addition, electrochemical characterization, Raman spectroscopy and electron microscopy suggest that the SWCNT structure facilitates the oligomerization of longer but less stable chains through π–π interactions with the walls of CNTs, while hCNTs promote a more stable attachment according to their heterogeneity and higher reactivity. Computational calculations have confirmed the experimental results obtained, which allow us to shed more light on the mechanisms of the electrochemical functionalization of CNTs with phosphorus and nitrogen-containing polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate here the lowest‐energy (spin‐conserving) excitation energies for the set of He‐Ne atoms, with the family of nonempirical PBE, PBE0, PBE0‐1/3, PBE0‐DH, PBE‐CIDH, PBE‐QIDH, and PBE0‐2 functionals, after employing a wide variety of basis sets systematically approaching the basis set limit: def2‐nVP(D), cc‐pVnZ, aug‐cc‐pVnZ, and d‐aug‐cc‐pVnZ. We find that an accuracy (ie, mean unsigned error) of 0.3 to 0.4 eV for time‐dependent density functional theory (DFT) atomic excitation energies can be robustly achieved with modern double‐hybrid methods, which are also stable with respect to the addition of a double set of diffuse functions, contrarily to hybrid versions, in agreement with recent findings employing sophisticated multiconfigurational DFT methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of advanced N-doped carbon materials towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysis is only possible if the nature of the active sites is fully understood. There is an important piece of research seeking to overcome this challenge through experimental or theoretical results. However, the combination of both approaches is necessary to deepen the knowledge about this subject. This work presents excellent agreement between experimental results and computational models, which provides evidence of the nature of the most active sites in N-doped carbon materials. N-doped carbon materials have been experimentally obtained through double stage treatment of polyaniline in distinct atmospheres (both oxygen-containing and inert atmospheres) at different temperatures (800–1200 °C). According to temperature programmed desorption (TPD), Raman spectroscopy, N2-adsorption isotherms at −196 °C and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), this synthesis method results in the selective formation of nitrogen species, without significant changes in structural order or porosity. ORR catalytic tests evidence the highly efficient catalysis, with platinum-like performance in terms of the current density and onset potential, of N-doped carbon materials selectively containing graphitic-type nitrogen species. Computational chemistry, through DFT calculations, shows that edge-type graphitic nitrogen is more effective towards ORR catalysis than pyridinic, pyrrolic, pyridonic, oxidized and basal-type graphitic nitrogen species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a new algorithm for the generation of 3D grids for the numerical evaluation of multicenter molecular integrals in density functional theory. First, we use the nuclear weight functions method of Becke [A. D. Becke, J. Chem. Phys. 88, 2547 (1988)] to decompose a multicenter integral ∫F(r) dr into a sum of atomic-like single-center integrals. Then, we apply automatic numerical integration techniques to evaluate each of these atomic-like integrals, so that the total integral is approximated as ∫F(r) dr≊∑iωiF(ri). The set of abscissas ri and weights ωi constitutes the 3D grid. The 3D atomic-like integrals are arranged as three successive monodimensional integrals, each of which is computed according to a recently proposed monodimensional automatic numerical integration scheme which is able to determine how many points are needed to achieve a given accuracy. When this monodimensional algorithm is applied to 3D integration, the 3D grids obtained adapt themselves to the shape of the integrand F(r), and have more points in more difficult regions.The function F(r), which, upon numerical integration, yields the 3D grid, is called the generating function of the grid. We have used promolecule densities as generating functions, and have checked that grids generated from promolecule densities are also accurate for other integrands. Our scheme is very reliable in the sense that, given a relative tolerance ε, it generates 3D grids which are able to approximate multicenter integrals with relative errors smaller than ε for all the molecules tested in this work. Coarser or finer grids can be obtained using greater or smaller tolerances. For a series of 21 molecules, the average number of points per atom for ε=2.0·10-3, ε=2.0·10-4, ε=2.0·10-5, ε=2.0·10-6, and ε=2.0·10-7 is respectively 3141 (2.9·10-4), 10271 (2.4·10-5), 27184 (3.1·10-6), 72266... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competition between Na + and K + with a protein for water was investigated by using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The optimized potential energy curves have been made in the DFT, together with balanced basis sets of split valence Def2-SV(P). Initially, calculations were done in order to know the organization of the hydration shell of the sodium and potassium ions, when up to sixteen molecules of water are added. The results indicate the structure and stability of these cations with water clusters. Then, this knowledge was used for the analysis of the hydrated protein when potassium or sodium cations approach them, showing that cation has a dehydration process more favorable energetically, and indicating for which cation, potassium or sodium is the competition with the protein for water more favorable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin-projected spin polarized Møller-Plesset and spin polarized coupled clusters calculations have been made to estimate the cyclobutadiene automerization, the ethylene torsion barriers in their ground state, and the gap between the singlet and triplet states of ethylene. The results have been obtained optimizing the geometries at MP4 and/or CCSD levels, by an extensive Gaussian basis set. A comparative analysis with more complex calculations, up to MP5 and CCSDTQP, together with others from the literature, have also been made, showing the efficacy of using spin-polarized wave functions as a reference wave function for Møller-Plesset and coupled clusters calculations, in such problems. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We study the potential energy surface of the acetone–carbon dioxide complex with ab initio methods. [•] We analyze the contributions to the interaction energy with variational and perturbative approaches. [•] We describe non-conventional structures in which dispersion energy plays a key role. [•] We show that current density functional theory methods are unsuitable to describe this type of complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lowest-energy singlet ( S 1 ) and triplet ( T 1 ) excited states of organic conjugated chromophores are known to be accurately calculated by modern wavefunction and Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) methods, with the accuracy of the latter heavily relying on the exchange-correlation functional employed. However, there are challenging cases for which this cannot be the case, due to the fact that those excited states are not exclusively formed by single excitations and/or are affected by marked correlation effects, and thus TD-DFT might fall short. We will tackle here a set of molecules belonging to the azaphenalene family, for which research recently documented an inversion of the relative energy of S 1 and T 1 excited states giving rise to a negative energy difference ( Δ E S T ) between them and, thereby, contrary to most of the systems thus far treated by TD-DFT. Since methods going beyond standard TD-DFT are not extensively applied to excited-state calculations and considering how challenging this case is for the molecules investigated, we will prospectively employ here a set of non-standard methods (Multi-Configurational Pair Density Functional Theory or MC-PDFT) and correlation functionals (i.e., Lie–Clementi and Colle–Salvetti) relying not only on the electronic density but also on some modifications considering the intricate electronic structure of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A guessing game very popular in some European countries involves several players hiding in their hands a number of coins (or pebbles) between zero and three, then attempting to guess in turn the total number of coins in the hands of everyone, with the restriction that no player can repeat the guess issued by any predecessor. After a full round, the player, if any, who guesses correctly wins. Of course, rounds without a winner are also possible, in which case a new round is started afresh. The purpose of the present article is to present an analysis of this game (called Chinos in Spain, as a perturbation of “chinas”, i.e. pebbles), and some of its possible variants. Our primary aim is to show its potential to shed light on some issues of strategic behavior and information transmission that seem very germane to some social and economic problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevailing approach in density-functional theory makes use of universal functionals, valid for any number of electrons (N). In this article and following the work of Lieb [E. H. Lieb, Int. J. Quantum Chem. 24, 243 (1983)], we argue that the use of N-dependent functionals could be an equally valid approach. Size consistency (dissociation into proper fragments) puts restrictions on the form that N-dependent functionals may adopt. We propose a simple procedure for correcting the size-consistency problem of existing N-dependent functionals that also provides an original way of designing new ones. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard procedure to identify the hole- or electron-acceptor character of amorphous organic materials used in OLEDs is to look at the values of a pair of basic parameters, namely, the ionization potential (IP) and the electron affinity (EA). Recently, using published experimental data, the present authors showed that only IP matters, i.e., materials with IP > 5.7 (<5.7) showing electron (hole) acceptor character. Only three materials fail to obey this rule. This work reports ab initio calculations of IP and EA of those materials plus two materials that behave according to that rule, following a route which describes the organic material by means of a single molecule embedded in a polarizable continuum medium (PCM) characterized by a dielectric constant ε. PCM allows to approximately describe the extended character of the system. This "compound" system was treated within density functional theory (DFT) using several combinations of the functional/basis set. In the preset work ε was derived by assuming Koopmans' theorem to hold. Optimal ε values are in the range 4.4–5.0, close to what is expected for this material family. It was assumed that the optical gap corresponds to the excited state with a large oscillator strength among those with the lowest energies, calculated with time-dependent DFT. Calculated exciton energies were in the range 0.76–1.06 eV, and optical gaps varied from 3.37 up to 4.50 eV. The results are compared with experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in the synthesis of stable organic (open-shell) polyradicaloids have opened their application as active compounds for emerging technologies. These systems typically exhibit small energy differences between states with different spin multiplicities, which are intrinsically difficult to calculate by theoretical methods. We thus apply here some DFT-based variants (FT-DFT, SF-DFT, and SF-TDDFT) on a test set of large and real-world molecules, as test systems for which such energy differences are experimentally available, also comparing systematically with RAS-SF results to infer if shortcomings of previous DFT applications are corrected. Additionally, we explore the spin-spin contribution to the ZFS tensor, of high interest for EPR spectroscopy, and derive the spatial extent of the corresponding (photoexcited) triplet state.