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Chalcogenides materials are being considered as some of the most promising systems for energy harvesting and energy conversion. Among them, the orthorhombic family of compounds X2Y3 (with X= Bi, Sb and Y= S, Se) has attracted special attention due to its interesting atomic structure, thermoelectric and optical properties. While Bi2S3 and Sb2Se3 have being already applied to solar cells, the new metastable Bi2Se3 is still a challenge due to the lack of data and knowledge on its properties. Here, the vibrational and structural properties of the orthorhombic metastable phase of Bi2Se3 were investigated by using Raman spectroscopy and ab-initio calculations. We perform Raman spectrum measurements along in-situ thermal treatment on samples grown by electrochemical deposition. We show that by increasing the temperature occurs an improved crystallization in the orthorhombic structure, followed by a recrystallization to the usual rhombohedral phase. Our results point out for specific Raman modes of the orthorhombic phase. First principle computational results based on density functional theory support the experimental data and describe three singlet Raman active vibrational modes, Ag1, B2g and Ag2., Comment: 17 pages, 2 table, 3 figures

This work is focused in the stability and magnetic properties of complex graphene multivacancy systems, studied by Density Functional Theory calculations. The removal of a sequence of carbon atoms -i.e. the complementary figure- leads to these multivacancy systems. We show evidence that dendritic-like complementary figures yield to very stable defected graphene structures. If this dendritic complementary figure is aliphatic, the stress of the defected graphene system is enough to decrease the symmetry of such a system. In the cases that the complementary figure is based in phenyl- or pyrenyl-like cores, the remaining system with the vacancy will preserve the symmetry of the removed segment yielding to flower-like structures after optimization. This has consequences in the magnetic arrangement based on the dangling bonds located at the loose vertices of the pentagonal rings. The cases with orthogonal anisotropy, the magnetic order is driven by the symmetry of the vacancy system -i.e. the symmetry of the complementary figure-., Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 1 table

The stability of graphene multivacancy systems is studied using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. This work describes the evolution of the energy of formation per carbon atom for zigzag and armchair complementary figures -i.e. the figure formed by the carbon atoms extracted from graphene to form the vacancy-. Multivacancy systems formed when armchair complementary figures are removed are more stable for higher orders (>5) in comparison with the zigzag ones. The case of the construction of a 6-order vacancy from a 5-order one (branch-like) is discussed with the dependence on the place where the extra carbon atom is removed from graphene. The stability of multivacancy systems could be explained through the relative positions of the pentagonal rings present in the resulting defected graphene structure, as the more relevant factor. Other secondary factors that affect the stability of a graphene multivacancy system are the dangling bonds magnetic arrangements and their steric hindrance., Comment: 20 pages, 1 Table, 8 Figures

Structural and electronic properties comparison between anatase, rutile and monoclinic TiO2(B) titania polymorphs in bulk and related nanostructures simulated by two-dimensional slabs has been performed by means of density functional theory calculations. TiO2(B) was included due to experimental results where it appears as a metastable phase during thermal annealing of low content sodium layered titanate nanostructures obtained via hydrothermal synthesis. Band gaps and surface energies are discussed confronting results obtained by Plane Waves (PW) and Localized Basis Set methods (LCNAO), observing an excellent agreement between both methodologies when considering floating basis to calculate surfaces energies using LCAO. The computed formation energy for the TiO2(B) (001) slab, as has been previously reported by Vittadini A. et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 2009, 113 (44), 18973-18977, is in the order of the one calculated for anatasa (101) which represents one of the most stable TiO2 surfaces. The adsorption of formic acid on (001) and (100) - less stable - TiO2(B) dry facets was investigated as the first step for further evaluation of TiO2(B) nanostructures for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) applications. The results show that the bidentate dissociated configuration is the most stable for both surfaces being the computed adsorption energy 0.76 eV and 1.35 eV for (001) and (100) respectively. These results differ from what was previously found for dry anatasa (101) where monodentate coordination prevails. The evaluated reactivity of TiO2(B) slabs is comparable with anatase and indicates that it could be a good adsorbent for common dyes used for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells purposes., Comment: 20 pages, 10 Figures, 6 Tables, submitted

We present an ab initio study on the structural and electronic distortions of modified graphene by creation of vacancies, inclusion of boron atoms, and the coexistence of both, by means of thermodynamics and band structure calculations. In the case of coexistence of boron atoms and vacancy, the modified graphene presents spin polarization only when B atoms locate far from vacancy. Thus, when a boron atom fills single- and di-vacancies, it suppresses the spin polarization of the charge density. In particular when B atoms fill a di-vacancy a new type of rearrangement occurs, where a stable BC4 unit is formed inducing important out of plane distortions to graphene. All these findings suggest that new chemical modifications to graphene and new type of vacancies can be used for interesting applications such as sensor and chemical labeling., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures and 3 tables

Herein, we investigate the structural, electronic and mechanical properties of zigzag graphene nanoribbons upon the presence of stress applying Density Functional Theory within the GGA-PBE approximation. The uniaxial stress is applied along the periodic direction, allowing a unitary deformation in the range of +/- 0.02%. The mechanical properties show a linear-response within that range while the non-linear dependence is found for higher strain. The most relevant results indicate that Young's modulus is considerable higher than those determined for graphene and carbon nanotubes. The geometrical reconstruction of the C-C bonds at the edges hardness the nanostructure. Electronic structure features are not sensitive to strain in this linear elastic regime, being an additional promise for the using of carbon nanostructures in nano-electronic devices in the near future., Comment: 30 pages. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter (accepted)