We report the preliminary results of the development of density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) repulsive potentials for the Zr - O element pair. The repulsive potentials were created using a computer code based on the particle swarm optimization. The potentials were tested on a set of systems for high temperature phases of bulk ZrO2, namely cubic and tetragonal. The potential sets were primarily developed for simulation of zirconia phase transitions at elevated temperatures.

Divide-and-conquer-type density-functional tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations of the CO2 absorption process in monoethanolamine (MEA) solution have been performed for systems containing thousands of atoms. The formation of carbamate anions has been widely investigated for neutral systems via ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, yet the present study is aimed at identifying the role of hydroxide ions in acid-base equilibrium. The structural and electronic analyses reveal that the hydroxide ion approaches, via Grotthuss-type shuttling, the zwitterionic intermediates and abstracts a proton from the nitrogen atom of MEA. We also estimated the fraction of reacted CO2 and carbamate formed at different initial CO2 concentrations that confirm a high absorbed CO2 concentration decreases the fraction of MEA(C) formed due to the abundance of MEA(Z) in the solution.

The physisorption of an acetone molecule oil hexagonal graphene nanoflakes with increasing size has been investigated using a variety of quantum chemical methods capable of describing weak intermolecular interactions coupled-cluster theory (CCSD and CCSD(T)), second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory with and without spin-component scaling (SCS-MP2 or standard MP2), long-range corrected density functional theory combined with a van der Waals functional (LC-BOP+ALL), meta-generalized gradient approximation functionals (M06-2X and M05-2X), and the dispersion augmented self-consistent-charge density functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB-D) method. Our benchmark results for model systems as large as. dicircumcoronene C96H24 have confirmed the suitability of the SCS-MP2 method for this specific system and the satisfactory performance of the computationally much more economical semiempirical SCC-DFTB-D method. The latter delivers a qualitatively accurate description of physisorption for flakes Containing more than 800 carbon atoms. We predict accurate interaction energies of acetone with an infinitely large, defect-free graphene monolayer by combining extrapolation approaches for both increasing ab initio basis sets and graphene flake size in a two-dimensional extrapolation scheme:

The diffusion of the hydroxide ion in bulk water was examined by linear-scaling divide-and-conquer density functional tight-binding molecular dynamics (DC-DFTB-MD) simulations using three different-sized unit cells that contained 522, 1050, and 4999 water molecules as well as one hydroxide ion. The repulsive potential for the oxygen-oxygen pair was improved by iterative Boltzmann inversion, which adjusted the radial distribution function of DFTB-MD simulations to that of the reference density functional theory-MD one. The calculated diffusion coefficients and the Arrhenius diffusion barrier were in good agreement with experimental results. The results of the hydroxide ion coordination number distribution and potential of mean force analyses supported a dynamical hypercoordination diffusion mechanism.

The linear-scaling divide-and-conquer (DC) quantum chemical methodology is applied to the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) theory to develop a massively parallel program that achieves on-the-fly molecular reaction dynamics simulations of huge systems from scratch. The functions to perform large scale geometry optimization and molecular dynamics with DC-DFTB potential energy surface are implemented to the program called DC-DFTB-K. A novel interpolation-based algorithm is developed for parallelizing the determination of the Fermi level in the DC method. The performance of the DC-DFTB-K program is assessed using a laboratory computer and the K computer. Numerical tests show the high efficiency of the DC-DFTB-K program, a single-point energy gradient calculation of a one-million-atom system is completed within 60 s using 7290 nodes of the K computer. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

We report a transient infrared (IR) absorption spectrum of the simplest deuterated Criegee intermediate CD2OO recorded using a step-scan Fourier-transform spectrometer coupled with a multipass absorption cell. CD2OO was produced from photolysis of flowing mixtures of CD2I2, N-2, and O-2 (13 or 87 Torr) with laser light at 308 nm. The recorded spectrum shows close structural similarity with the spectrum of CH2OO reported previously [Y.-T. Su et al., Science 340, 174 (2013)]. The four bands observed at 852, 1017, 1054, and 1318 cm(-1) are assigned to the OO stretching mode, two distinct in-plane OCD bending modes, and the CO stretching mode of CD2OO, respectively, according to vibrational wavenumbers, IR intensities, rotational contours, and deuterium-isotopic shifts predicted with extensive quantum-chemical calculations. The CO-stretching mode of CD2OO at 1318 cm(-1) is blue shifted from the corresponding band of CH2OO at 1286 cm(-1); this can be explained by a mechanism based on mode mixing and isotope substitution. A band near 936 cm(-1), observed only at higher pressure (87 Torr), is tentatively assigned to the CD2 wagging mode of CD2IOO. Published by AIP Publishing.

CO2 chemical absorption and regeneration processes in aqueous amine solutions were investigated using density-functional tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations. Extensive analyses of the structural, electronic, and dynamical properties of 100 independent trajectories supported the contrasting mechanisms in the absorption and regeneration processes. In the CO2 absorption process, bicarbonate formed where the hydroxyl anion migrated through the hydrogen-bond network of water molecules, namely, by a Grotthuss-type mechanism. On the other hand, direct proton transfer from the protonated amine to the hydroxyl group of bicarbonate, which is called the ion-pair mechanism, was the key step to the release of CO2. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The process of proton diffusion in liquid water was investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and the total energy and atomic forces were evaluated by the divide-and-conquer-type density-functional tight-binding (DC-DFTB) method. The effectiveness of this approach was confirmed by comparing the computational time of water clusters with conventional treatments. The unit cell employed herein, which contained 523 water molecules and 1 excess proton, was moderately large in comparison with those used in previous studies. The reasonable accuracy obtained by using this unit cell was confirmed by examining the temperature fluctuation. The diffusion coefficients for the vehicular and Grotthuss processes were accurately reproduced by the DC-DFTB-MD simulations with the unit cell containing 523 water molecules. Furthermore, the energy barriers were evaluated from the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient for each process. The calculated barrier for Grotthuss diffusion was in good agreement with the experimental value.

We present a novel density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) parametrization toolkit developed to optimize the parameters of various DFTB models in a fully automatized fashion. The main features of the algorithm, based on the particle swarm optimization technique, are discussed, and a number of initial pilot applications of the developed methodology to molecular and solid systems are presented.

We present an efficient numerical integration scheme (TWOCENT) to be used in the context of automatized parameterization of the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) method. The accuracy of the integration process is assessed and its range of applicability is discussed. The functionality of the developed code is tested by reproducing the electronic portion of the existing mio parameter sets and by reproducing a series of reference DFT band structures of elemental solids.

The Criegee intermediates are carbonyl oxides that play critical roles in ozonolysis of alkenes in the atmosphere. So far, the mid-infrared spectrum of only the simplest Criegee intermediate CH2OO has been reported. Methyl substitution of CH2OO produces two conformers of CH3CHOO and consequently complicates the infrared spectrum. Here we report the transient infrared spectrum of syn- and anti-CH3CHOO, produced from CH3CHI + O-2 in a flow reactor, using a step-scan Fourier-transform spectrometer. Guided and supported by high-level full-dimensional quantum calculations, rotational contours of the four observed bands are simulated successfully and provide definitive identification of both conformers. Furthermore, anti-CH3CHOO shows a reactivity greater than syn-CH3CHOO towards NO/NO2; at the later period of reaction, the spectrum can be simulated with only syn-CH3CHOO. Without NO/NO2, anti-CH3CHOO also decays much faster than syn-CH3CHOO. The direct infrared detection of syn-and anti-CH3CHOO should prove useful for field measurements and laboratory investigations of the Criegee mechanism.

Back electron transfer (BET) is one of the important processes that govern the decay of generated ion pairs in intermolecular photoinduced electron transfer reactions. Unfortunately, a detailed mechanism of BET reactions remains largely unknown in spite of their importance for the development of molecular photovoltaic structures. Here, we examine the BET reaction of pyrene (Py) and 1,4-dicyanobenzene (DCB) in acetonitrile (ACN) by using time-resolved near-and mid-IR spectroscopy. The Py dimer radical cation (Py-2(center dot+)) and DCB radical anion (DCB center dot-) generated after photoexcitation of Py show asynchronous decay kinetics. To account for this observation, we propose a reaction mechanism that involves electron transfer from DCB center dot- to the solvent and charge recombination between the resulting ACN dimer anion and Py-2(center dot+). The unique role of ACN as a charge mediator revealed herein could have implications for strategies that retard charge recombination in dye-sensitized solar cells.

The S(N)1-type hydrolysis reaction of cellobiose in ionic liquids (ILs) was theoretically investigated. First principles and ab initio quantum chemical methods were used in conjunction with the 'reference interaction site model self-consistent field with spatial electron density distribution' (RISM-SCF-SEDD) method. Reaction mechanism pathways are discussed and compared to calculations in gas phase and in aqueous solution. Analysis of solvation effects indicates strong interaction between hydrogen atoms of glucose hydroxyl groups and the anions in ILs, contributing to large stabilization of the reaction product. The calculated activation energy in ILs (24.5 kcal/mol) agrees quantitatively with the experimental value (26.5 kcal/mol). (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Carbon nanotubes have long been described as rolled-up graphene sheets. It is only fairly recently observed that longitudinal cleavage of carbon nanotubes, using chemical, catalytical and electrical approaches, unzips them into thin graphene strips of various widths, the so-called graphene nanoribbons. In contrast, rolling up these flimsy ribbons into tubes in a real experiment has not been possible. Theoretical studies conducted by Kit et al. recently demonstrated the tube formation through twisting of graphene nanoribbon, an idea very different from the rolling-up postulation. Here we report the first experimental evidence of a thermally induced self-intertwining of graphene nanoribbons for the preferential synthesis of (7, 2) and (8, 1) tubes within parent-tube templates. Through the tailoring of ribbon's width and edge, the present finding adds a radically new aspect to the understanding of carbon nanotube formation, shedding much light on not only the future chirality tuning, but also contemporary nanomaterials engineering.

We report a stochastic search methodology on the basis of dispersion-augmented density functional theory (DFT), aimed at finding low energy isomers of the phenylacetylene dimer as well as methane and benzene dimers. Stochastic search of the molecular cluster interaction energy surfaces was carried out with the computationally inexpensive dispersion-augmented, third-order self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (DFTB3-D) method, and energetically low-lying molecular cluster geometries were identified, including several that had previously been optimized at the MP2/cc-pVTZ level of theory and had single point interaction energies evaluated at the coupled-cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples (CCSD(T)) level of theory in the complete basis set limit (Maity, S. et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys 2011, 13, 16706). In addition, the search procedure identifies several additional low-energy isomers that map a reaction path, rotating one monomer through a full 360 relative to the first. We found that binding energies from long-range corrected functional combined with the local response dispersion correction (LC-BOP+LRD) yields binding energies that are within 1 kJ mol-1 of the CCSD(T)/CBS results for both π-stacked and CH···π structures. In contrast, other functionals and second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation methods favored one binding motif or the other and therefore are not ideal to describe a global potential energy surface. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

We have investigated the growth mechanism of coronene-derived graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) using two different precursors: coronene and a dimer form of coronene, so-called dicoronylene (C48H20). For both of the precursors, the formation of nanoribbon-like materials inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was confirmed by transmission electron microscope observations. Experimental and theoretical Raman analysis reveals that the samples also encapsulated dicoronylene and linearly condensed other coronene oligomers, which can be regarded as analogues to GNRs. Interestingly, it was found that the present doping condition of coronene yields dicoronylene prior to encapsulation due to the thermal dimerization of coronene. These results indicate that the dimerization before the encapsulation drives the preferential formation of the coronene-based GNRs within CNTs.

A methodology to evaluate the kinetic stability of carbon nanostructures is presented based on the assumption of the independent and random nature of thermal vibrations. The kinetic stability is directly correlated to the cleavage probability for the weakest bond of a given nanostructure. The application of the presented method to fullerenes and carbon nanotubes yields clear correlation to their experimentally observed relative isomer abundances. The general and simple formulation of the method ensures its applicability to other nanostructures for which formation is controlled by kinetic factors.

Combined temperature-programmed desorption and IR studies suggest that absorption cross sections of IR-active vibrations of molecules "strongly" bound to single-wall sidewalls as the origin of such "screening". The observed and identify dielectric screening by highly polarizable SWCNT endohedrally encapsulated molecules are dramatically reduced, carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are reduced at least by a factor of 10. Quantum chemical simulations show that IR intensities of intensity reduction originates from a sizable cancellation of adsorbate dipole moments by mirror charges dynamically induced on the nanotube sidewalls. For exohedrally adsorbed molecules, the dielectric screening is found to be orientation-dependent with a smaller magnitude for adsorption in groove and interstitial sites. The presented results clearly demonstrate and quantify the screening effect of SWCNTs and unequivocally show that IR spectroscopy cannot be applied in a straightforward manner to the study of peapod systems.

The interaction of acetone with single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at low temperatures was studied by a combination of temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and dispersion-augmented density-functional-based tight binding (DFTB-D) theoretical simulations. On the basis of the results of the TPD study and theoretical simulations, the desorption peaks of acetone can be assigned to the following adsorption sites: (i) sites with energy of similar to 75 kJ mol(-1) (T-des similar to 300 K)-endohedral sites of small diameter nanotubes (similar to 7.7 angstrom); (ii) sites with energy 40-68 kJ mol(-1) (T-des similar to 240 K)-acetone adsorption on accessible interstitial, groove sites, and endohedral sites of larger nanotubes (similar to 14 angstrom); (iii) sites with energy 25-42 kJ mol(-1) (T-des similar to 140 K)-acetone adsorption on external walls of SWCNTs and multilayer adsorption. Oxidatively purified SWCNTs have limited access to endohedral sites due to the presence of oxygen functionalities. Oxygen functionalities can be removed by annealing to elevated temperature (900 K) opening access to endohedral sites of nanotubes. Nonpurified, as-received SWCNTs are characterized by limited access for acetone to endohedral sites even after annealing to elevated temperatures (900 K). Annealing of both purified and as-produced SWCNTs to high temperatures (1400 K) leads to reduction of access for acetone molecules to endohedral sites of small nanotubes, probably due to defect self-healing and cap formation at the ends of SWCNTs. No chemical interaction between acetone and SWCNTs was detected for low temperature adsorption experiments. Theoretical simulations of acetone adsorption on finite pristine SWCNTs of different diameters suggest a clear relationship of the adsorption energy with tube sidewall curvature. Adsorption of acetone is due to dispersion forces, with its C-O bond either parallel to the surface or 0 pointing away from it. No significant charge transfer or polarization was found. Carbon black was used to model amorphous carbonaceous impurities present in as-produced SWCNTs. Desorption of acetone from carbon black revealed two peaks at similar to 140 and similar to 180-230 K, similar to two acetone desorption peaks from SWCNTs. The characteristic feature of acetone desorption from SWCNTs was peak at similar to 300 K that was not observed for carbon black. Care should be taken when assigning TPD peaks for molecules desorbing front carbon nanotubes as amorphous carbon can interfere.