Anders Hellman

Low Temperature CO Oxidation over Supported Ultrathin MgO Films

Density functional theory is used to investigate CO oxidation over an ultrathin MgO film supported on Ag(100). O(2) is found to be activated on MgO/Ag(100) whereas CO is only weakly bonded to the surface. These adsorption properties together with a low activation barrier render the MgO/Ag system an efficient catalyst for CO oxidation at low temperatures. As the predicted mechanism is general in nature, the result is suggested to have implications for a wide range of oxidation reactions.

The Active Phase of Palladium during Methane Oxidation

The active phase of Pd during methane oxidation is a long-standing puzzle, which, if solved, could provide routes for design of improved catalysts. Here, density functional theory and in situ surface X-ray diffraction are used to identify and characterize atomic sites yielding high methane conversion. Calculations are performed for methane dissociation over a range of Pd and PdOx surfaces and reveal facile dissociation on either under-coordinated Pd sites in PdO(101) or metallic surfaces. The experiments show unambiguously that high methane conversion requires sufficiently thick PdO(101) films or metallic Pd, in full agreement with the calculations. The established link between high activity and atomic structure enables rational design of improved catalysts.

The rise of hematite: origin and strategies to reduce the high onset potential for the oxygen evolution reaction

Hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) has emerged as a promising material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting thanks to its abundance, stability in an aqueous environment, favorable optical bandgap and position of the electronic valence band. Nevertheless, its performance as a photoanode is considerably lower than what is theoretically achievable. In particular, the high electrochemical potential usually needed to initiate water oxidation is detrimental to the prospect of using hematite for practical devices. In this review we elucidate the appealing, as well as the challenging, aspects of using hematite for PEC water splitting and focus on the recent efforts towards lowering the onset potential of water oxidation. We examine and rationalize several strategies pursued to achieve this goal involving manipulation of the hematite/electrolyte interface, as well as improving relevant properties of hematite itself.

The Role of Surface States in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction on Hematite

Hematite (α-Fe2 O3 ) is an extensively investigated semiconductor for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The nature and role of surface states on the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remain however elusive. First-principles calculations were used to investigate surface states on hematite under photoelectrochemical conditions. The density of states for two relevant hematite terminations was calculated, and in both cases the presence and the role of surface states was rationalized. Calculations also predicted a Nerstian dependence on the OER onset potential on pH, which was to a very good extent confirmed by PEC measurements on hematite model photoanodes. Impedance spectroscopy characterization confirmed that the OER takes place via the same surface states irrespective of pH. These results provide a framework for a deeper understanding of the OER when it takes place via surface states.

From Electronic Structure to Catalytic Activity: A Single Descriptor for Adsorption and Reactivity on Transition-Metal Carbides

Adsorption and catalytic properties of the polar (111) surface of transition-metal carbides (TMCs) are investigated by density-functional theory. Atomic and molecular adsorption are rationalized with the concerted-coupling model, in which two types of TMC surface resonances (SRs) play key roles. The transition-metal derived SR is found to be a single measurable descriptor for the adsorption processes, implying that the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relation and scaling relations apply. This gives a picture with implications for ligand and vacancy effects and which has a potential for a broad screening procedure for heterogeneous catalysts.

Analysis of Porphyrines as Catalysts for Electrochemical Reduction of O2 and Oxidation of H2O

Bioinspired structures are promising as improved catalysts for various redox reactions. One example is metal hangman-porphyrines (MHP), which recently have been suggested for oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER). The unique properties of the MHPs are attributed to both the hangman scaffold and the C6F5 side groups. Herein, the OER/ORR over various transition metal MHPs is investigated by density functional theory calculations within an electrochemical framework. A comparison of the reaction landscape for MHP, metal porphyrine (MP) and metaltetrafluorophenyloporphyrines (MTFPP), allow for a disentanglement of the different roles of the hangman motif and the side groups. In agreement with experimental studies, it is found that Fe and Co are the best MHP metal centers to catalyze these reactions. We find that the addition of the three-dimensional moiety in the form of hangman scaffold does not break the apparently universal energy relation between *OH and *OOH intermediates. However, the hangman motif is found to stabilize the oxygen intermediate, whereas addition of C6F5 groups reduces the binding energy of all reaction intermediates. Our results indicate that the combination of these two effects allow new design possibilities for macromolecular systems with enhanced catalytic OER/ORR activity.

On the performance of Ag/Al2O3 as a HC-SCR catalyst – influence of silver loading, morphology and nature of the reductant

This study focuses on the performance of Ag/Al2O3 catalysts for hydrocarbon selective catalytic reduction (HC-SCR) of NOx under lean conditions, using complex hydrocarbons as reductants. The aim is to elucidate the correlation towards the silver loading and morphology, with respect to the nature of the reductant. Ag/Al2O3 samples with either 2 or 6 wt% silver loading were prepared, using a sol–gel method including freeze-drying. The catalytic performance of the samples was evaluated by flow reactor experiments, with paraffins, olefins and aromatics of different nature as reductants. The physiochemical properties of the samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy/high angle annular dark field imaging, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and N2-physisorption. The 2 wt% Ag/Al2O3 sample was found to be the most active catalyst in terms of NOx reduction. However, the results from the activity studies revealed that the decisive factor for high activity at low temperatures is not only connected to the silver loading per se. There is also a strong correlation between the silver loading and morphology (i.e. the ratio between low- and high-coordinated silver atoms) and the nature of the hydrocarbon, on the activity for NOx reduction. Calculated reaction rates over the low-coordinated step and high-coordinated terrace sites showed that the morphology of silver has a significant role in the HC-SCR reaction. For applications which include complex hydrocarbons as reductants (e.g. diesel), these issues need to be considered when designing highly active catalysts.

On the mechanism for nanoplasmonic enhancement of photon to electron conversion in nanoparticle sensitized hematite films

Hematite (Fe2O3) is a promising candidate for hydrogen production via water splitting despite the difference in the characteristic lengths for photon absorption and charge carrier transport. Metallic nanoparticles supporting localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), i.e. collective, non-propagating oscillations of electrons excited by an external electric field, are well-suited to improve the optoelectronic properties of hematite, in particular for ultra-thin films. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the observed LSPR mediated performance enhancement. In this work, the improvement of incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of ultra-thin hematite photoanodes functionalized with Au nanodisks was investigated. The improvement in IPCE at wavelengths close to the bandgap in hematite was found to correlate well with the increase in optical extinction owing to the excitation of LSPR in the nanodisks. Finite-difference time-domain calculations of the near-field distribution around the nanodisks enabled us to elucidate the mechanism behind the IPCE enhancement and its variations with the position of the plasmonic resonance with respect to the bandgap of hematite. Both were attributed to an increased charge generation close to the hematite-electrolyte interface caused by the electric field enhancement in hematite. The results presented here are directly applicable to other semiconductors with similar properties to hematite and are expected to be helpful in future design of optimized photoanodes, where, for instance, functionalization with metallic nanoparticles is combined with material doping and nanostructuring.

Potential--energy surfaces for excited states in extended systems.

With a simple and physically intuitive method, first-principles calculations of potential-energy surfaces are performed for excited states in a number of illustrative systems, including dimers (H(2) and NaCl) and gas-surface systems [Cl-Na(100) and Cl(2)-Na(100)]. It is based on density-functional theory and is a generalization of the Delta self-consistent field (DeltaSCF) method, where electron-hole pairs are introduced in order to model excited states, corresponding to internal electron transfers in the considered system. The desired excitations are identified by analysis of calculated electron orbitals, local densities of states, and charge densities. For extended systems, where reliable first-principles methods to account for electronically excited states have so far been scarce, our method is very promising. Calculated results, such as the chemiluminescence of halogen molecules impinging on a alkali-metal surface, and the vertical (5 sigma-->2 pi(*)) excitation within the adsorbed CO molecule on the Pd(111) surface, are in working agreement with those of other studies and experiments.

Schottky barrier formation and band bending revealed by first- principles calculations.

The formation of a Schottky barrier at the metal-semiconductor interface is widely utilised in semiconductor devices. With the emerging of novel Schottky barrier based nanoelectronics, a further microscopic understanding of this interface is in high demand. Here we provide an atomistic insight into potential barrier formation and band bending by ab initio simulations and model analysis of a prototype Schottky diode, i.e., niobium doped rutile titania in contact with gold (Au/Nb:TiO2). The local Schottky barrier height is found to vary between 0 and 1.26 eV depending on the position of the dopant. The band bending is caused by a dopant induced dipole field between the interface and the dopant site, whereas the pristine Au/TiO2 interface does not show any band bending. These findings open the possibility for atomic scale optimisation of the Schottky barrier and light harvesting in metal-semiconductor nanostructures.