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Title: Effect of Single-Layer MoS 2 on the Geometry, Electronic Structure, and Reactivity of Transition Metal Nanoparticles

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States). Dept. of Physics; Max-Planck Inst. für Festkörperforschung, Stuttgart (Germany)

We present results of ab initio density functional theory (DFT) based calculations of the geometry, electronic structure, and reactivity of subnanometer-sized (29-atom) transition metal nanoparticles (NPs) (Cu29, Ag29, and Au29) supported on single-layer MoS2. As compared to its pristine form, defect-laden MoS2 (with a S vacancy row) has relatively larger effect on the above properties of the NPs. The NPs bind more strongly on defect-laden than on pristine MoS2 (in the order Cu29 > Ag29 > Au29), confirming the important role of vacancies in stabilizing the NPs on the support. The presence of vacancies also leads to an increase in charge transfer from the NPs to MoS2 (with the same elemental trend as for their binding energy) and to a shift of the d-band center of the NPs further toward the Fermi level, in turn influencing their propensity toward chemical activity. We examine the adsorption and dissociation of O2 as the prototype reactions and find that there is no barrier for O2 to adsorb on top of an atom at the NP apex, where the frontier orbitals are localized, and that the dissociation channel proceeds through a chemisorbed state. The presence of the support leads to increase in the number of sites at which O2 can adsorb with similar binding energy (<0.1 eV difference). Interestingly, energy barriers for both dissociation and recombination of O2, when adsorbing at the NP apex, increase in the presence of the MoS2 support. However, since the increase in the barrier for recombination is much larger than for dissociation, the latter should be more favored. Lastly, in particular, for defect-laden MoS2 supported Au29 the recombination faces a barrier of 1.36 eV whereas the dissociation does 0.5 eV, implying that the defect-laden support may significantly improve the catalytic performance of Au29 toward oxidation reaction.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-07ER15842
OSTI ID:
1480460
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, Vol. 121, Issue 13; ISSN 1932-7447
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 19 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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