Lan-Feng Yuan

Icosahedral B12-containing core–shell structures of B80

Low-lying icosahedral (I(h)) B(12)-containing structures of B(80) are explored, and a number of core-shell isomers are found to have lower energy than the previous predicted B(80) fullerene. The structural transformation of boron clusters from tubular structure to core-shell structure may occur at a critical size less than B(80).

Highly Confined Water: Two-Dimensional Ice, Amorphous Ice, and Clathrate Hydrates

Understanding phase behavior of highly confined water, ice, amorphous ice, and clathrate hydrates (or gas hydrates), not only enriches our view of phase transitions and structures of quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) solids not seen in the bulk phases but also has important implications for diverse phenomena at the intersection between physical chemistry, cell biology, chemical engineering, and nanoscience. Relevant examples include, among others, boundary lubrication in nanofluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices, synthesis of antifreeze proteins for ice-growth inhibition, rapid cooling of biological suspensions or quenching emulsified water under high pressure, and storage of H2 and CO2 in gas hydrates. Classical molecular simulation (MD) is an indispensable tool to explore states and properties of highly confined water and ice. It also has the advantage of precisely monitoring the time and spatial domains in the sub-picosecond and sub-nanometer scales, which are difficult to control in laboratory experiments, and yet allows relatively long simulation at the 10(2) ns time scale that is impractical with ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. In this Account, we present an overview of our MD simulation studies of the structures and phase behaviors of highly confined water, ice, amorphous ice, and clathrate, in slit graphene nanopores. We survey six crystalline phases of monolayer (ML) ice revealed from MD simulations, including one low-density, one mid-density, and four high-density ML ices. We show additional supporting evidence on the structural stabilities of the four high-density ML ices in the vacuum (without the graphene confinement), for the first time, through quantum density-functional theory optimization of their free-standing structures at zero temperature. In addition, we summarize various low-density, high-density, and very-high-density Q2D bilayer (BL) ice and amorphous ice structures revealed from MD simulations. These simulations reinforce the notion that the nanoscale confinement not only can disrupt the hydrogen bonding network in bulk water but also can allow satisfaction of the ice rule for low-density and high-density Q2D crystalline structures. Highly confined water can serve as a generic model system for understanding a variety of Q2D materials science phenomena, for example, liquid-solid, solid-solid, solid-amorphous, and amorphous-amorphous transitions in real time, as well as the Ostwald staging during these transitions. Our simulations also bring new molecular insights into the formation of gas hydrate from a gas and water mixture at low temperature.

Structural selection of graphene supramolecular assembly oriented by molecular conformation and alkyl chain

Graphene molecules, hexafluorotribenzo[a,g,m]coronene with n-carbon alkyl chains (FTBC-Cn, n = 4, 6, 8, 12) and Janus-type “double-concave” conformation, are used to fabricate self-assembly on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface. The structural dependence of the self-assemblies with molecular conformation and alkyl chain is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculation. An interesting reverse face “up–down” way is observed in FTBC-C4 assembly due to the existence of hydrogen bonds. With the increase of the alkyl chain length and consequently stronger van der Waals interaction, the molecules no longer take alternating “up–down” orientation in their self-assembly and organize into various adlayers with lamellar, hexagonal honeycomb, and pseudohoneycomb structures based on the balance between intermolecular and molecule-substrate interactions. The results demonstrate that the featured “double-concave” molecules are available block for designing graphene nanopattern. From the results of scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurement, it is found that the electronic property of the featured graphene molecules is preserved when they are adsorbed on solid surface.

Highly selective adsorption of methanol in carbon nanotubes immersed in methanol-water solution

The systems of open-ended carbon nanotubes (CNTs) immersed in methanol-water solution are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. For the (6,6) CNT, nearly pure methanol is found to preferentially occupy interior space of the CNT. Even when the mass fraction (MF) of methanol in bulk solution is as low as 1%, the methanol MF within the CNT is still more than 90%. For CNTs with larger diameters, the methanol concentrations within CNTs are also much higher than those outside CNTs. The methanol selectivity decreases with increasing CNT diameter, but not monotonically. From microscopic structural analyses, we find that the primary reason for the high selectivity of methanol by CNTs lies on high preference of methanol in the first solvation shell near the inner wall of CNT, which stems from a synergy effect of the van der Waals interaction between CNT and the methyl groups of methanol, together with the hydrogen bonding interaction among the liquid molecules. This synergy effect may be of general significance and extended to other systems, such as ethanol aqueous solution and methanol/ethanol mixture. The selective adsorption of methanol over water in CNTs may find applications in separation of water and methanol, detection of methanol, and preservation of methanol purity in fuel cells.

Electron-induced ferromagnetic ordering of Co-doped ZnO

The electronic and magnetic properties of Co-doped ZnO are investigated based on the B3LYP hybrid spin-density functional method. The calculated electronic structures obtained from B3LYP agree well with the experimental results. B3LYP predicts that antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering between the Co ions is favored over ferromagnetic (FM) ordering in intrinsic Co-doped ZnO, and reveals that the FM ordering can be induced by electron doping when the doping level reaches 1 electron per Co ion. These results agree well with the FM ordering observed in highly conductive n-type Zn1−xCoxO films. Charge transfer to the minority-spin d states of Co atoms and the consequent double-exchange interaction are the primary origins of FM ordering. Since Ni has one more electron than Co, we also investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of intrinsic Ni-doped ZnO. Qualitatively different from the local-density-approximation results, B3LYP predicts that Ni-doped ZnO is an insulator and favors AFM ordering.

Ferroelectric hexagonal and rhombic monolayer ice phases

Two new phases of water, the mid-density hexagonal monolayer ice and the high-density flat rhombic monolayer ice, are observed in our molecular dynamics simulations of monolayer water confined between two smooth hydrophobic walls. These are in addition to the two monolayer ices reported previously, namely, the low-density 4·82 monolayer ice and the high-density puckered rhombic monolayer ice (HD-pRMI). Stabilities of the structures are confirmed by ab initio computation. Importantly, both new phases and the HD-pRMI are predicted to be ferroelectric. An in-plane external electric field can further stabilize these ferroelectric monolayer ices.

Electron impact ionization of water-doped superfluid helium nanodroplets : Observation of He(H2O)+n clusters

Electron impact mass spectra have been recorded for helium nanodroplets containing water clusters. In addition to identification of both H+(H2O)n and (H2O)n+ ions in the gas phase, additional peaks are observed which are assigned to He(H2O)n+ clusters for up to n=27. No clusters are detected with more than one helium atom attached. The interpretation of these findings is that quenching of (H2O)n+ by the surrounding helium can cool the cluster to the point where not only is fragmentation to H+(H2O)m (where m⩽n−1) avoided, but also, in some cases, a helium atom can remain attached to the cluster ion as it escapes into the gas phase. Ab initio calculations suggest that the first step after ionization is the rapid formation of distinct H3O+ and OH units within the (H2O)n+ cluster. To explain the formation and survival of He(H2O)n+ clusters through to detection, the H3O+ is assumed to be located at the surface of the cluster with a dangling O–H bond to which a single helium atom can attach via a charge-induced...

Ab initio prediction of amorphous B84.

To explore the possible existence of boron clusters without carbon analogs, we study B(84) cluster as a prototypical system by ab initio calculations. Structures of several isomer forms of B(84) are optimized. Among these isomers, a group of amorphous (disordered) structures are found to be the most stable. Different from the high-symmetry isomers, the amorphous B(84) clusters are more stable than the fullerene B(80) in terms of cohesive energy per atom. These amorphous structures can be distinguished from other high-symmetry structures experimentally via, for example, infrared spectra. The radial and angular distribution functions of amorphous B(84) structures are more diffuse than those of high-symmetry structures. On the basis of these findings, we propose that amorphous structures may be generic for boron and dominate boron clusters in a range of cluster scale.

The Si–H stretching–bending overtone polyads of SiHF3: Assignments, band intensities, internal coordinate force field, and ab initio dipole moment surfaces

Fourier transform overtone spectra of SiHF3 were recorded in the region of 2500–9000 cm−1 and vibrationally assigned. Experimental intensities were estimated. The 3ν1 overtone band at 6753 cm−1 was observed to be more than 10 times weaker than the 4ν1 band. A reduced three-dimensional Hamiltonian model in terms of internal coordinates was employed to study the Si–H stretching and bending vibrations including 5ν1 and 6ν1 which were recently recorded using optoacoustic spectroscopy. Potential energy parameters were optimized by fitting to experimental band centers. The Fermi resonance between the Si–H stretching and bending motions was found to be insignificant. Band intensities were computed using ab initio one- and three-dimensional dipole moment surfaces (DMS) expanded to polynomials in terms of symmetrized internal coordinates. The intensity anomaly of 3ν1 is understood as resulting from cancellation of contributions by the linear and quadratic terms in the DMS expansion. The behavior of X–H stretching ...

A theoretical study of the linear OCuO species

Density functional calculations are performed to study the linear OCuO molecule in the neutral, cationic, and anionic charge states. The equilibrium bond lengths, vibrational frequencies, and electronic configurations are obtained. A theoretical assignment for the features in the photoelectronic spectrum is given at the local spin-density approximation level. Our results compare well with the available experimental results and show that the ground state of the OCuO molecule is the doublet (2Πg).