Nanoscale cooperative adsorption for materials control

Adsorption plays vital roles in many processes including catalysis, sensing, and nanomaterials design. However, quantifying molecular adsorption, especially at the nanoscale, is challenging, hindering the exploration of its utilization on nanomaterials that possess heterogeneity across different length scales. Here we map the adsorption of nonfluorescent small molecule/ion and polymer ligands on gold nanoparticles of various morphologies in situ under ambient solution conditions, in which these ligands are critical for the particles’ physiochemical properties. We differentiate at nanometer resolution their adsorption affinities among different sites on the same nanoparticle and uncover positive/negative adsorption cooperativity, both essential for understanding adsorbate-surface interactions. Considering the surface density of adsorbed ligands, we further discover crossover behaviors of ligand adsorption between different particle facets, leading to a strategy and its implementation in facet-controlled synthesis of colloidal metal nanoparticles by merely tuning the concentration of a single ligand.

A DFT Study on the Interaction of Doped Carbon Nanotubes with H2S, SO2 and Thiophene

The interactions of simple and Al-, B-, N-, S-, P-, and Si-doped carbon nanotubes with three sulfur-containing molecules (H2S, SO2, and thiophene) were investigated to assess their adsorption potencies and sensor abilities. The DFT method was used to calculate the adsorption energies and natural bond orbitals parameters. In addition, population analyses were performed to calculate the energy gaps and reactivity parameters. The results showed an exothermic interaction of H2S, SO2, and thiophene with simple and doped carbon nanotubes, while the maximum negative adsorption energies belong to Al- and B-containing complexes. Furthermore, evaluation of second-order perturbation energies (obtained from natural bond orbitals calculations) confirmed that the highest energies were related to B- and Al-containing intramolecular interactions. The results revealed the favorability of adsorption of SO2 by nanotubes (B- and Al-doped carbon nanotubes, in particular) compared with the other examined adsorbates.

A DFT study on the interaction of doped carbon nanotubes with H2S, SO2 and thiophene

The interactions of simple and Al, B, N, S, P and Si-doped carbon nanotubes with three sulfur-containing molecules (H2S, SO2 and thiophene) have been investigated to assess their adsorption potencies and sensor abilities. DFT calculations were used to calculate the adsorption energies and NBO parameters. Besides, Population analyses were performed to calculate the energy gaps and reactivity parameters and to obtain DOS plots. The results showed an exothermic interaction of H2S, SO2 and thiophene with simple and doped CNTs while the maximum negative adsorption energies were belonged to Al and B containing complexes. Furthermore, evaluation of second order perturbation energies (obtained from NBO calculations) confirmed that the highest energies were related to B and Al containing intramolecular interactions. The results revealed the favourability of adsorption of SO2 by nanotubes (B and Al doped carbon nanotubes, in particular), in comparing with the other examined adsorbates.

Experimental and Theoretical Studies on the Corrosion Inhibition of Carbon Steel by Two Indazole Derivatives in HCl Medium

In this work, two indazole derivatives, namely 5-aminoindazole (AIA) and 5-nitroindazole (NIA), were investigated as corrosion inhibitors for carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution by experimental and density functional theory (DFT) methods. The electrochemical results indicate that the inhibition ability follows the order of AIA > NIA, which is due to the stronger electron-donating effect of –NH2 of the AIA group than the –NO2 group of NIA. Besides, the frontier orbital theory shows that the AIA exhibits higher reaction activity than NIA, and a more negative adsorption energy for AIA was also obtained, which is consistent with the analysis of the electrochemical measurements. We draw the conclusion that the electron-donating effect makes it easier for AIA to donate electrons to iron atoms to form a stronger protective layer than NIA.

A DFT Screening of M-HKUST-1 MOFs for Nitrogen-Containing Compounds Adsorption

To develop promising adsorbent candidates for adsorptive denitrogenation, we screened the adsorption of NO, NO2, and NH3 in 19 M-HKUST-1 (M = Be, Fe, Ni, Cr, Co, Cu, V, Zn, Mo, Mn, W, Sn, Ti, Cd, Mg, Sc, Ca, Sr, and Ba) systematically using first-principle calculations. Of these, four variants of M-HKUST-1 (M = Ni, Co, V, and Sc) yield more negative adsorption Gibbs free energy ΔGads than the original Cu-HKUST-1 for three adsorbates, suggesting stronger adsorbate binding. Ti-HKUST-1, Sc-HKUST-1, and Be-HKUST-1 are predicted to have the largest NO, NO2, and NH3 adsorption energies within the screened M-HKUST-1 series, respectively. With the one exception of NO2 dissociation on V-HKUST-1, dissociative adsorption of NO, NO2, and NH3 molecules on the other considered M-HKUST-1 is energetically less favorable than molecular adsorption thermodynamically. The barrier calculations show that the dissociation is difficult to occur on Cu-HKUST-1 kinetically due to the very large dissociation barrier. Electronic analysis is provided to explain the bond nature between the adsorbates and M-HKUST-1. Note that the isostructural substitution of Cu to the other metals is a major simplification of the system, representing the ideal situation; however, the present study provides interesting targets for experimental synthesis and testing.

Probing the self-aggregation behavior and counter ion distribution of a copper surfactant complex

The aggregation behavior of the metallosurfactant is pointing towards negative adsorption of metal ions at the micelle surface and surface adsorbed film.