Search

In most technological applications, nanoparticles are immersed in a liquid environment. Understanding nanoparticles/liquid interfacial effects is extremely relevant. This work provides a clear and detailed picture of the type of chemistry and physics taking place at the prototypical TiO2 nanoparticles/water interface, which is crucial in photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry. We present a multistep and multiscale investigation based on hybrid density functional theory (DFT), density functional tight-binding, and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations. We consider increasing water partial pressure conditions from ultra-high vacuum up to the bulk water environment. We first investigate single water molecule adsorption modes on various types of undercoordinated sites present on a realistic curved nanoparticle (2-3 nm) and then, by decorating all the adsorption sites, we study a full water monolayer to identify the degree of water dissociation, the Brønsted-Lowry basicity/acidity of the nanoparticle in water, the interface effect on crystallinity, surface energy, and electronic properties, such as the band gap and work function. Furthermore, we increase the water coverage by adding water multilayers up to a thickness of 1 nm and perform molecular dynamics simulations, which evidence layer structuring and molecular orientation around the curved nanoparticle. Finally, we clarify whether these effects arise as a consequence of the tension at the water drop surface around the nanosphere by simulating a bulk water up to a distance of 3 nm from the oxide surface. We prove that the nanoparticle/water interfacial effects go rather long range since the dipole orientation of water molecules is observed up to a distance of 5 Å, whereas water structuring extends at least up to a distance of 8 Å from the surface.

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is vital in solving energy and environmental issues that this society is confronted with. Although photocatalysts are often operated in the presence of water, it has not been yet clarified how the interaction with water itself affects charge dynamics in photocatalysts. Using water-coverage-controlled steady and transient infrared absorption spectroscopy and large-model (~800 atoms) ab initio calculations, we clarify that water enhances hole trapping at the surface of TiO2 nanospheres but not of well-faceted nanoparticles. This water-assisted effect unique to the nanospheres originates from water adsorption as a ligand at a low-coordinated Ti-OH site or through robust hydrogen bonding directly to the terminal OH at the highly curved nanosphere surface. Thus, the interaction with water at the surface of nanospheres can promote photocatalytic reactions of both oxidation and reduction by elongating photogenerated carrier lifetimes. This morphology-dependent water-assisted effect provides a novel and rational basis for designing and engineering nanophotocatalyst morphology to improve photocatalytic performances

In the confined zone between a bidimensional material and a metal surface, unexpected effects can take place. In this study, we show that when a nonregular two-dimensional h-BN layer is grown on a Cu(111) surface, metal adatoms spontaneously pop up from the bulk to fill the holes in the structure. We provide ample theoretical support to our findings based on a large set of dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations and on a detailed analysis of the electronic properties and of the chemical processes at this peculiar interface. The observation can be rationalized in terms of a high affinity of Cu adatoms toward N-donor species. Defective h-BN, exposing N-terminated edges, behaves like a giant multi-N-donor macrocyclic ligand that can encapsulate metal atoms as a consequence of a huge stabilization deriving from the Cu–N bond formation. Our conclusions could apply to other metal surfaces and could even stimulate the idea of trapping different metal atoms from those of the underlying surface (e.g., more precious but more active metals) for catalytic purposes

Metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) are regarded as good candidates for many technological applications, where their functional environment is often an aqueous solution. The correct description of metal oxide electronic structure is still a challenge for local and semilocal density functionals, whereas hybrid functional methods provide an improved description, and local atomic function-based codes such as CRYSTAL17 outperform plane wave codes when it comes to hybrid functional calculations. However, the computational cost of hybrids are still prohibitive for systems of real sizes, in a real environment. Therefore, we here present and critically assess the accuracy of our electrostatic embedding quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) coupling between CRYSTAL17 and AMBER16, and demonstrate some of its capabilities via the case study of TiO2 NPs in water. First, we produced new Lennard–Jones (LJ) parameters that improve the accuracy of water–water interactions in the B3LYP/TIP3P coupling. We found that optimizing LJ parameters based on water tri- to deca-mer clusters provides a less overstructured QM/MM liquid water description than when fitting LJ parameters only based on the water dimer. Then, we applied our QM/MM coupling methodology to describe the interaction of a 1 nm wide multilayer of water surrounding a spherical TiO2 nanoparticle (NP). Optimizing the QM/MM water–water parameters was found to have little to no effect on the local NP properties, which provide insights into the range of influence that can be attributed to the LJ term in the QM/MM coupling. The effect of adding additional water in an MM fashion on the geometry optimized nanoparticle structure is small, but more evident effects are seen in its electronic properties. We also show that there is good transferability of existing QM/MM LJ parameters for organic molecules–water interactions to our QM/MM implementation, even though these parameters were obtained with a different QM code and QM/MM im

Computational modeling of titanium dioxide nanoparticles of realistic size is extremely relevant for the direct comparison with experiments but it is also a rather demanding task. We have recently worked on a multistep/scale procedure to obtain global optimized minimum structures for chemically stable spherical titania nanoparticles of increasing size, with diameter from 1.5 nm (~300 atoms) to 4.4 nm (~4000 atoms). We use first self-consistent-charge density functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) methodology to perform thermal annealing simulations to obtain globally optimized structures and then hybrid density functional theory (DFT) to refine them and to achieve high accuracy in the description of structural and electronic properties. This allows also to assess SCC-DFTB performance in comparison with DFT(B3LYP) results. As a further step, we investigate photoexcitation and photoemission processes involving electron/hole pair formation, separation, trapping and recombination in the nanosphere of medium size by hybrid DFT. Finally, we show how a recently defined new set of parameters for SCC-DFTB allows for a proper description of titania/water multilayers interface, which paves the way for modeling large realistic nanoparticles in aqueous environment

A water/(101) anatase TiO2 interface has been investigated with the DFT-based self-consistent-charge density functional tight-binding theory (SCC-DFTB). By comparison of the computed structural, energetic, and dynamical properties with standard DFT-GGA and experimental data, we assess the accuracy of SCC-DFTB for this prototypical solid-liquid interface. We tested different available SCC-DFTB parameters for Ti-containing compounds and, accordingly, combined them to improve the reliability of the method. To better describe water energetics, we have also introduced a modified hydrogen-bond-damping function (HBD). With this correction, equilibrium structures and adsorption energies of water on (101) anatase both for low (0.25 ML) and full (1 ML) coverages are in excellent agreement with those obtained with a higher level of theory (DFT-GGA). Furthermore, Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for mono-, bi-, and trilayers of water on the surface, as computed with SCC-DFTB, evidence similar ordering and energetics as DFT-GGA Car-Parrinello MD results. Finally, we have evaluated the energy barrier for the dissociation of a water molecule on the anatase (101) surface. Overall, the combined set of parameters with the HBD correction (SCC-DFTB+HBD) is shown to provide a description of the water/water/titania interface, which is very close to that obtained by standard DFT-GGA, with a remarkably reduced computational cost. Hence, this study opens the way to the future investigations on much more extended and realistic TiO2/liquid water systems, which are extremely relevant for many modern technological applications

TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) are nowadays considered fundamental building blocks for many technological applications. Morphology is found to play a key role with spherical NPs presenting higher binding properties and chemical activity. From the experimental point of view, the characterization of these nano-objects is extremely complex, opening a large room for computational investigations. In this work, TiO2 spherical NPs of different sizes (from 300 to 4000 atoms) have been studied with a two-scale computational approach. Global optimization to obtain stable and equilibrated nanospheres was performed with a self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) simulated annealing process, causing a considerable atomic rearrangement within the nanospheres. Those SCC-DFTB relaxed structures have been then optimized at the DFT(B3LYP) level of theory. We present a systematic and comparative SCC-DFTB vs DFT(B3LYP) study of the structural properties, with particular emphasis on the surface-to-bulk sites ratio, coordination distribution of surface sites, and surface energy. From the electronic point of view, we compare HOMO-LUMO and Kohn-Sham gaps, total and projected density of states. Overall, the comparisons between DFTB and hybrid density functional theory show that DFTB provides a rather accurate geometrical and electronic description of these nanospheres of realistic size (up to a diameter of 4.4 nm) at an extremely reduced computational cost. This opens for new challenges in simulations of very large systems and more extended molecular dynamics.

In biomedical applications, TiO2 nanoparticles are generally coated with polymers to prevent agglomeration, improve biocompatibility, and reduce cytotoxicity. Although the synthesis processes of such composite compounds are well established, there is still a substantial lack of information on the nature of the interaction between the titania surface and the organic macromolecules. In this work, the adsorption of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the TiO2 (101) anatase surface is modeled by means of dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D2) calculations. The two extreme limits of an infinite PEG polymer [-(OCH2CH2)n], on one side, and of a short PEG dimer molecule [H(OCH2CH2)2OH], on the other, are analyzed. Many different molecular configurations and modes of adsorption are compared at increasing surface coverage densities. At low and medium coverage, PEG prefers to lay down on the surface, while at full coverage, the adsorption is maximized when PEG molecules bind perpendicularly to the surface and interact with each other through lateral dispersions, following a mushroom to brush transition. Finally, we also consider the adsorption of competing water molecules at different coverage densities, assessing whether PEG would remain bonded to the surface or desorb in the presence of the aqueous solvent. (Chemical Equation Presented).

Thermoelectric materials are strategically valuable for sustainable development, as they allow for the generation of electrical energy from wasted heat. In recent years several strategies have demonstrated some efficiency in improving thermoelectric properties. Dopants affect carrier concentration, while thermal conductivity can be influenced by alloying and nanostructuring. Features at the nanoscale positively contribute to scattering phonons, however those with long mean free paths remain difficult to alter. Here we use the concept of hierarchical nano-grains to demonstrate thermal conductivity reduction in rocksalt lead chalcogenides. We demonstrate that grains can be obtained by taking advantage of the reconstructions along the phase transition path that connects the rocksalt structure to its high-pressure form. Since grain features naturally change as a function of size, they impact thermal conductivity over different length scales. To understand this effect we use a combination of advanced molecular dynamics techniques to engineer grains and to evaluate thermal conductivity in PbSe. By affecting grain morphologies only, i.e. at constant chemistry, two distinct effects emerge: the lattice thermal conductivity is significantly lowered with respect to the perfect crystal, and its temperature dependence is markedly suppressed. This is due to an increased scattering of low-frequency phonons by grain boundaries over different size scales. Along this line we propose a viable process to produce hierarchical thermoelectric materials by applying pressure via a mechanical load or a shockwave as a novel paradigm for material design., Engineering Thermodynamics

Thermoelectric materials are strategically valuable for sustainable development, as they allow for the generation of electrical energy from wasted heat. In recent years several strategies have demonstrated some efficiency in improving thermoelectric properties. Dopants affect carrier concentration, while thermal conductivity can be influenced by alloying and nanostructuring. Features at the nanoscale positively contribute to scattering phonons, however those with long mean free paths remain difficult to alter. Here we use the concept of hierarchical nano-grains to demonstrate thermal conductivity reduction in rocksalt lead chalcogenides. We demonstrate that grains can be obtained by taking advantage of the reconstructions along the phase transition path that connects the rocksalt structure to its high-pressure form. Since grain features naturally change as a function of size, they impact thermal conductivity over different length scales. To understand this effect we use a combination of advanced molecular dynamics techniques to engineer grains and to evaluate thermal conductivity in PbSe. By affecting grain morphologies only, i.e. at constant chemistry, two distinct effects emerge: the lattice thermal conductivity is significantly lowered with respect to the perfect crystal, and its temperature dependence is markedly suppressed. This is due to an increased scattering of low-frequency phonons by grain boundaries over different size scales. Along this line we propose a viable process to produce hierarchical thermoelectric materials by applying pressure via a mechanical load or a shockwave as a novel paradigm for material design.