Xiaojun Li

The nature of structure and bonding between transition metal and mixed Si-Ge tetramers: A 20-electron superatom system.

A novel superatom species with 20‐electron system, SixGeyM+ (xu2009+u2009yu2009=u20094; Mu2009=u2009Nb, Ta), was properly proposed. The trigonal bipyramid structures for the studied systems were identified as the putative global minimum by means of the density functional theory calculations. The high chemical stability can be explained by the strong p‐d hybridization between transition metal and mixed Si‐Ge tetramers, and closed‐shell valence electron configuration [1S21P62S21D10]. Meanwhile, the chemical bondings between metal atom and the tetramers can be recognized by three localized two‐center two‐electron (2c‐2e) and delocalized 3c‐2e σ‐bonds. For all the doped structures studied here, it was found that the π‐ and σ‐electrons satisfy the 2(Nu2009+u20091)2 counting rule, and thus these clusters possess spherically double (π and σ) aromaticity, which is also confirmed by the negative nucleus‐independent chemical shifts values. Consequently, all the calculated results provide a further understanding for structural stabilities and electronic properties of transition metal‐doped semiconductor clusters.

Exploring the chemical bonding, infrared and UV-vis absorption spectra of OH radicals adsorption on the smallest fullerene.

In the present work, the density-functional theory calculations were performed on C20 hydroxylated fullerene. B3LYP functionals with 6-31G(d,p) basis set were utilized to gain insight into the bonding characters and intramolecular interactions of hydroxyl groups adsorbed on the cage. Interestingly, we observed that the C20 cage has the bonding patterns with spherical orbitals configuration [1S(2)1P(6)1D(10)1F(2)], and the adsorbed hydroxyl groups significantly affect the chemical bonding of the cage surface. Analysis of vertical electron affinities and vertical ionization potentials indicates that the polyhydroxylated derivative with eight hydroxyl groups is more stable than others. The intramolecular interaction of these derivatives considered here reveals that the more the hydroxyl groups in derivatives, the stronger the interaction in stabilizing structures. On the basis of theoretical studies, the hydroxyl groups largely enhance the infrared intensities, especially for the polyhydroxylated derivatives.

Effect of Alkali Metal Atoms Doping on Structural and Nonlinear Optical Properties of the Gold-Germanium Bimetallic Clusters

A new series of alkali-based complexes, AM@GenAu (AM = Li, Na, and K), have been theoretically designed and investigated by means of the density functional theory calculations. The geometric structures and electronic properties of the species are systematically analyzed. The adsorption of alkali metals maintains the structural framework of the gold-germanium bimetallic clusters, and the alkali metals prefer energetically to be attached on clusters’ surfaces or edges. The high chemical stability of Li@Ge12Au is revealed by the spherical aromaticity, the hybridization between the Ge atoms and Au-4d states, and delocalized multi-center bonds, as well as large binding energies. The static first hyperpolarizability (βtot) is related to the cluster size and geometric structure, and the AM@GenAu (AM = Na and K) clusters exhibit the much larger βtot values up to 13050 a.u., which are considerable to establish their strong nonlinear optical (NLO) behaviors. We hope that this study will promote further application of alkali metals-adsorbed germanium-based semiconductor materials, serving for the design of remarkable and tunable NLO materials.

Design of novel graphdiyne-based materials with large second-order nonlinear optical properties

In this study, we designed a series of new alkali metal-adsorbed graphdiyne (GDY) structures (denoted as AM3@GDY (AM = Li, Na, K)) with an intramolecular electron donor–acceptor framework using density functional theory calculations. It is found that the three alkali metals are energetically preferred to be adsorbed on the three hollows of the largely delocalized π-conjugated GDY surface, while the adsorption of alkali metals largely affects the electronic properties of the complexes, and reduces the vertical ionization potentials. More interestingly, the doping of alkali metal atoms dramatically enhances the static first hyperpolarizabilities (βtot) of AM3@GDY, of which the K3@GDY cluster possesses a remarkably giant βtot value of ∼1.61 × 105 a.u., which is enough for it to exhibit strong nonlinear optical (NLO) behavior. These findings may provide new insights into the design of novel graphdiyne-based NLO materials and promote further potential applications in optoelectronic nanodevices.

Preferential Oxidation of CO in H 2 -Rich Stream Over Au/CeO 2 –NiO Catalysts: Effect of the Preparation Method

AbstractTwo methods, viz., the hydrothermal (HT) and co-precipitation (CP) methods, were used to prepare CeO2–NiO composite oxides; with them as the supports, Au/CeO2–NiO catalysts were prepared by the colloidal deposition method and used in the preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO in H2-rich stream. Various characterization measures such as N2 sorption, XRD, TEM, H2-TPR, Raman spectroscopy and XPS were used to clarify the influence of preparation method on the structure of CeO2–NiO support and the performance of Au/CeO2–NiO catalyst. The XPS and TEM results reveal that the CeO2–NiO(HT) support prepared by hydrothermal method displays a uniform rod-like shape and exposes preferentially the (110) and (100) planes of CeO2, whereas the CeO2–NiO(CP) support prepared by co-precipitation method is composed of nanorods and irregular nanoparticles dominated by (111) facets of CeO2. After deposition of gold, both the Au/CeO2–NiO(HT) and Au/CeO2–NiO(CP) catalysts are alike in the state and size distribution of deposited Au nanoparticles. The H2-TPR results indicate that the presence of Au strongly promotes the reduction of CeO2 in the Au/CeO2–NiO catalyst. Raman spectra illustrate that the incorporation of Ni ions into CeO2 remarkably increases the amount of oxygen vacancies in the CeO2–NiO supports, especially in CeO2–NiO(HT) prepared by hydrothermal method, which is beneficial to the dispersion and stabilization of gold species. The structure of CeO2–NiO support and catalytic activity of Au/CeO2–NiO in CO PROX is strongly related to the preparation method; Au/CeO2–NiO(HT) exhibits much higher activity than Au/CeO2–NiO(CP). The larger fraction of (110) and (100) CeO2 facets in CeO2–NiO(HT) can promote the dispersion of gold species, formation of oxygen vacancies and migration of oxygen species, which are effective to enhance the redox capacity and activity of the obtained Au/CeO2–NiO(HT) catalyst for CO PROX in H2-rich stream.Graphical AbstractAu supported on CeO2–NiO nanorods prepared by hydrothermal method exhibits much higher catalytic activity for CO PROX in H2-rich stream.n

Structural, electronic and spectral properties of carborane-containing boron dipyrromethenes (BODIPYs): A first-principles study

In this work, we reported the geometrical structures, electronic and spectral properties of the carborane-containing BODIPYs complexes using the density functional theory calculations. In two structures, the calculated main bond lengths and bond angels of structural framework are consistent with X-ray experiment, and the two BODIPYs complexes are thermodynamically and kinetically stable. The strongest DOS band is mainly dominated by the BB and BH σ-bonds of carborane fragment, whereas the π-type MOs on the pyrromethene fragment contribute to the high-energy DOS bands. Analysis of the AdNDP chemical bonding indicates that the carborane cage can be stabilized by eleven delocalized 3c2e and two delocalized 4c2e σ-bonds, while the pyrromethene fragment corresponds to five delocalized 3c2e π-bonds. In addition, the main characteristic peaks of the two simulated IR spectra for the BODIPYs complexes are properly assigned. Hopefully, all these results will be helpful for understanding the electronic structures, and further stimulate the study on the biological and medical applications.

First-Principles Study of Structural, Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Metal-Centered Tetrahexahedral V15+ Cluster

The V-centered bicapped hexagonal antiprism structure (A), as the most stable geometry of the cationic V15+ cluster, is determined by using infrared multiple photo dissociation (IR-MPD) in combination with density functional theory computations. It is found that the A structure can be stabilized by 18 delocalized 3c-2e σ-bonds on outer V3 triangles of the bicapped hexagonal antiprism surface and 12 delocalized 4c-2e σ-bonds on inner trigonal pyramidal V4 moiety, and the features are related to the strong p-d hybridization of the cluster. The total magnetic moments on the cluster are predicted to be 2.0 µB, which come mainly from the central vanadium atom.