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Density functional study of cluster models of zeolites. 1. Structure and acidity of hydroxyl groups in disiloxane analogs

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/j100140a018· OSTI ID:5651362
;  [1]
  1. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

In this work we calculate the structures and acidities of a series of clusters that mimic terminal and bridging hydroxyl groups in zeolites and molecular sieves using the local density functional (LDF) program DMol. The clusters include silanol, H[sub 3]Si-OH, and its anion, the simplest model of terminal hydroxyl groups at zeolite surfaces and defect sites. We also consider disiloxane, H[sub 3]Si-O-SiH[sub 3], and a series of structural analogs of disiloxane, H[sub 3]T-O(H)-TH[sub 3] (T = tetrahedrally coordinated atom) in which Si is substituted by Al, B, P, Ga, or Ge. The accuracy of these LDF calculations is determined in part by the size of the numerical basis set and quadrature grid. We find that the structures of the clusters are insensitive to increases in quadrature grid size beyond [approx equal] 3000 points/atom. However, the optimized values of the internal coordinates, particularly the T-O-T bond angle, are much more sensitive to basis set size. The largest basis set used in these calculations (DNP+) shows convergence in key internal coordinates to [approx equal] 0.1[degree]-5.0[degrees] for T-O(H)-T bond angles and better than 0.01 A for T-O bond lengths. We also gauge the accuracy of the LDF results against extended basis set Hartree-Fock MP2 results (MP2/DZ+2d) and experimental data. 60 refs., 5 figs., 21 tabs.

DOE Contract Number:
FG06-89ER75522; AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
5651362
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry; (United States) Vol. 97:38; ISSN JPCHAX; ISSN 0022-3654
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English