Synergistic Effects in the Activity of Nano-Transition-Metal clusters Pt12M (M = Ir, Ru or Rh) for NO dissociation

J. Vekeman, Q. Wang, X. Deraet, D. Bazin, F. De Proft, H. Guesmi, F. Tielens
ChemPhysChem
23, 21, e202200740
2022
A1

Abstract 

The dissociation of environmentally hazardous NO through dissociative adsorption on metallic clusters supported by oxides, is receiving growing attention. Building on previous research on monometallic M 13  clusters [J. Phys. Chem. C, 2019, 123(33), 20314-20318], this work considers bimetallic Pt 12 M (M = Rh, Ru or Ir) clusters. The adsorption energy and activation energy of NO dissociation on the clusters have been calculated in vacuum using Koh,-Sham DFT, while their trends were rationalized using reactivity indices such as molecular electrostatic potential and global Fermi softness. The results shown that doping of the Pt clusters lowered the adsorption energy as well as the activation energy for NO dissociation. Furthermore, reactivity indices were calculated as a first estimate of the performance of the clusters in realistic amorphous silica pores (MCM-41) through  ab initio  molecular dynamics simulations.

Open Access version available at UGent repository