Zhenbo Liu

Monolayer Ti2CO2: A Promising Candidate for NH3 Sensor or Capturer with High Sensitivity and Selectivity

Ti2C is one of the thinnest layers in MXene family with high potential for applications. In the present study, the adsorption of NH3, H2, CH4, CO, CO2, N2, NO2, and O2 on monolayer Ti2CO2 was investigated by using first-principles simulations to exploit its potential applications as gas sensor or capturer. Among all the gas molecules, only NH3 could be chemisorbed on Ti2CO2 with apparent charge transfer of 0.174 e. We further calculated the current-voltage (I-V) relation using the nonequilibrium Greens function (NEGF) method. The transport feature exhibits distinct responses with a dramatic change of I-V relation before and after NH3 adsorption on Ti2CO2. Thus, we predict that Ti2CO2 could be a promising candidate for the NH3 sensor with high selectivity and sensitivity. On the other hand, the adsorption of NH3 on Ti2CO2 could be further strengthened with the increase of applied strain on Ti2CO2, while the adsorption of other gases on Ti2CO2 is still weak under the same strain, indicating that the capture of NH3 on Ti2CO2 under the strain is highly preferred over other gas molecules. Moreover, the adsorbed NH3 on Ti2CO2 could be escapable by releasing the applied strain, which indicates the capture process is reversible. Our study widens the application of monolayer Ti2CO2 not only as the battery material, but also as the potential gas sensor or capturer of NH3 with high sensitivity and selectivity.

Interplay between halogen bond and lithium bond in MCN‐LiCN‐XCCH (M = H, Li, and Na; X = Cl, Br, and I) complex: The enhancement of halogen bond by a lithium bond

Quantum chemical calculations have been performed to study the complex of MCN‐LiCN‐XCCH (M = H, Li, and Na; X = Cl, Br, and I). The aim is to study the cooperative effect between halogen bond and lithium bond. The alkali metal has an enhancing effect on the lithium bond, making it increased by 77 and 94% for the Li and Na, respectively. There is the cooperativity between the lithium bond and halogen bond. The former has a larger enhancing effect on the latter, being in a range of 11.7–29.4%. The effect of cooperativity on the halogen bond is dependent on the type of metal and halogen atoms. The enhancing mechanism has been analyzed in views with the orbital interaction, charge transfer, dipole moment, polarizability, atom charges, and electrostatic potentials. The results show that the electrostatic interaction plays an important role in the enhancement of halogen bond.

Tetrel-hydride interaction between XH₃F (X = C, Si, Ge, Sn) and HM (M = Li, Na, BeH, MgH).

A tetrel-hydride interaction was predicted and characterized in the complexes of XH3F···HM (X = C, Si, Ge, Sn; M = Li, Na, BeH, MgH) at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level, where XH3F and HM are treated as the Lewis acid and base, respectively. This new interaction was analyzed in terms of geometrical parameters, interaction energies, and spectroscopic characteristics of the complexes. The strength of the interaction is essentially related to the nature of X and M groups, with both the larger atomic number of X and the increased reactivity of M giving rise to a stronger tetrel-hydride interaction. The tetrel-hydride interaction exhibits similar substituent effects to that of dihydrogen bonds, where the electron-donating CH3 and Li groups in the metal hydride strengthen the binding interactions. NBO analyses demonstrate that both BD(H-M) → BD*(X-F) and BD(H-M) → BD*(X-H) orbital interactions play the stabilizing role in the formation of the complex XH3F···HM (X = C, Si, Ge, and Sn; M = Li, Na, BeH, and MgH). The major contribution to the total interaction energy is electrostatic energy for all of the complexes, even though the dispersion/polarization parts are nonnegligible for the weak/strong tetrel-hydride interaction, respectively.

The Prominent Enhancing Effect of the Cation–π Interaction on the Halogen–Hydride Halogen Bond in M1⋅⋅⋅C6H5X⋅⋅⋅HM2

We designed M(1)⋅⋅⋅C(6)H(5)X⋅⋅⋅HM(2) (M(1) =Li(+), Na(+); X=Cl, Br; M(2) =Li, Na, BeH, MgH) complexes to enhance halogen-hydride halogen bonding with a cation-π interaction. The interaction strength has been estimated mainly in terms of the binding distance and the interaction energy. The results show that halogen-hydride halogen bonding is strengthened greatly by a cation-π interaction. The interaction energy in the triads is two to six times as much as that in the dyads. The largest interaction energy is -8.31 kcal mol(-1) for the halogen bond in the Li(+)⋅⋅⋅C(6)H(5)Br⋅⋅⋅HNa complex. The nature of the cation, the halogen donor, and the metal hydride influence the nature of the halogen bond. The enhancement effect of Li(+) on the halogen bond is larger than that of Na(+). The halogen bond in the Cl donor has a greater enhancement than that in the Br one. The metal hydride imposes its effect in the order HBeH<HMgH<HNa<HLi for the Cl complex and HBeH<HMgH<HLi<HNa for the Br complex. The large cooperative energy indicates that there is a strong interplay between the halogen-hydride halogen bonding and the cation-π interaction. Natural bond orbital and energy decomposition analyses indicate that the electrostatic interaction plays a dominate role in enhancing halogen bonding by a cation-π interaction.

Ab Initio Study of Lithium-Bonded Complexes with Carbene as an Electron Donor

The complexes H(2)C-LiX (X = H, OH, F, Cl, Br, CN, NC, CH(3), C(2)H(3), C(2)H, NH(2)) have been studied with quantum chemical calculations at the MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level. A new type of lithium bond was proposed, in which the carbene acts as the electron donor. This new type of lithium bond was characterized in view of the geometrical, spectral and energetic parameters. The Li-X bond elongates in all lithium bonded complexes. The Li-X stretch vibration has a red shift in the complexes H(2)C-LiX (X = H, OH, F); however, it exhibits a blue shift in the complexes H(2)C-LiX (X = Cl, Br, CN, NC, CH(3), C(2)H(3), C(2)H, NH(2)). The binding energies are in a range of 16.88-21.13 kcal/mol, indicating that the carbene is a good electron donor in the interaction. The energy decomposition analyses show that the electrostatic contribution is largest, polarization counterpart is followed, and charge transfer is smallest. The effect of substitution and hybridization on this type of lithium bond has also been investigated.

Prominent Effect of Alkali Metals in Halogen-Bonded Complex of MCCBr−NCM′ (M and M′ = H, Li, Na, F, NH2, and CH3)

Quantum chemical calculations have been performed for the MCCBr−NCM′ (M and M′ = H, Li, Na, F, NH2, and CH3) halogen-bonded complexes at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The binding energy is in a range of 1.34−23.42 kJ/mol. The results show that the alkali metal has a prominent effect on the strength of halogen bond, and this effect is different for the alkali metal in the halogen and electron donors. The alkali atom in the halogen donor makes it weaken greatly, whereas that in the electron donor causes it to enhance greatly. Natural bond orbital analysis shows that the alkali atom is electron-withdrawing in the halogen donor and electron-donating in the electron donor. In formation of the halogen bond, the former is a negative contribution, whereas the latter is a positive one. A similar charge transfer is also found for the H atom in the halogen and electron donors. These complexes have also been analyzed with the atoms in molecules theory.

Surprising enhancing effect of methyl group on the strength of O⋯XF and S⋯XF (X=Cl and Br) halogen bonds

The role of methyl group in H(2)O⋯XF and H(2)S⋯XF (X=Cl and Br) halogen-bonded complexes has been investigated with quantum chemical calculations. The halogen bond in the H(2)O⋯XF complexes is stronger than that in the H(2)S⋯XF complexes. However, the S⋯X halogen bond is stronger than the O⋯X one with the increase of methyl number. The result shows that the methyl group in the halogen acceptor has a positive contribution to the formation of halogen bond and there is a positive nonadditivity of methyl groups. Surprisingly, the methyl groups in dimethyl sulfide causes an increase of 150% for the interaction energy of S⋯Cl halogen bond. The natural bond orbital analyses have been performed to unveil the mechanism of the methyl group in the halogen bonding formation.

Electric field-driven acid-base chemistry: proton transfer from acid (HCl) to base (NH3/H2O).

It is well-known that single H3N-HCl and H2O-HCl acid-base pairs do not react to form the ion pairs, H4N(+)Cl(-) and H3O(+)Cl(-), in isolation. On the basis of ab initio method, we propose a physical method of external electric field (Eext) to drive the proton transfer from acid (HCl) to base (NH3/H2O). Our results show that when Eext along the proton-transfer direction achieves or exceeds the critical electric field (Ec), the proton transfer occurs, such as, the Ec values of proton transfer for H3N-HCl and H2O-HCl are 54 × 10(-4) and 210 × 10(-4) au, respectively. And the degree of the proton transfer can be controlled by modulating the strength of Eext. Furthermore, we estimate the inductive strength of an excess electron (Ee) equivalent to the Eext = 125 × 10(-4) au, which is greater than the Ec (54 × 10(-4) au) of NH3-HCl but less than the Ec (210 × 10(-4) au) of H2O-HCl. This explains well the anion photoelectron spectroscopy [Eustis et al. Science 2008, 319, 936] that an excess electron can trigger the proton transfer for H3N-HCl but not for H2O-HCl. On the basis of the above estimation, we also predict that two excess electrons can induce H2O-HCl to undergo the proton transfer and form the ion pair H3O(+)Cl(-).

Influence of hybridization and cooperativity on the properties of Au-bonding interaction: comparison with hydrogen bonds.

Quantum chemical calculations have been performed to study the hybridization effect in H(2)O-AuCH(2)CH(3), H(2)O-AuCHCH(2), and H(2)O-AuCCH dimers, and the cooperativity between the hydrogen bond and Au bonding in three trimers (T1, T2, and T3) composed of one AuCCH and two H(2)O molecules. With regard to the organic Au compounds, sp-hybridized AuCCH forms the strongest Au bonding, followed by sp(2) and then sp(3). The C-Au bond is elongated, and its elongation becomes larger with the increase of the s character in hybrid orbitals, whereas the corresponding stretch vibration displays a small blue shift. The positive cooperativity is present for the hydrogen bond and Au bonding in T1 and T2 trimers, whereas the negative cooperativity is found in T3 trimer. The results show that the hybridization effect and cooperative interaction in Au bonding are similar to those in hydrogen bonds. Additionally, an OH···Au hydrogen bond is suggested in T1 trimer.

Theoretical study of halogen–hydride halogen bonds in F3CL ··· HM (L=Cl, Br; M=Li, BeH, MgH) complexes

Quantum chemical calculations have been performed on six halogen–hydride halogen bonded complexes with F3CCl or F3CBr as the halogen donor and metal hydride (HLi, HBeH and HMgH) as the halogen acceptor. At the MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level, the interaction strength spans from 2.62 to 17.68 kJ mol–1. The C–Cl and C–Br bonds are contracted. However, no evident blue shift accompanies this contraction. The H–Li bond is also contracted, but the H–He and H–Mg bonds are lengthened. However, a blue shift occurs for all these bond-stretching vibrations. These properties were analysed using the theory of natural bond orbital (NBO) and atoms in molecules (AIM). A symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) analysis was also carried out to unveil the nature of this novel interaction. It is demonstrated that the electrostatic interaction plays a main role in the interaction, although induction and dispersion interactions are also important.