DFT Analysis of Methane C−H Activation and Over-Oxidation by [Cu2O]2+ and [Cu2O2]2+ Sites in Zeolite Mordenite: Intra- versus Inter-site Over-Oxidation
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of dicopper [Cu3 O3 ]2+ sites in methane-to-methanol conversion was investigated using density functional theory (DFT) computations.
Abstract: Methane over-oxidation by copper-exchanged zeolites prevents realization of high-yield catalytic conversion. However, there has been little description of the mechanism for methane over-oxidation at the copper active sites of these zeolites. Using density functional theory (DFT) computations, we reported that tricopper [Cu3 O3 ]2+ active sites can over-oxidize methane. However, the role of [Cu3 O3 ]2+ sites in methane-to-methanol conversion remains under debate. Here, we examine methane over-oxidation by dicopper [Cu2 O]2+ and [Cu2 O2 ]2+ sites using DFT in zeolite mordenite (MOR). For [Cu2 O2 ]2+ , we considered the μ-(η2 :η2 ) peroxo-, and bis(μ-oxo) motifs. These sites were considered in the eight-membered (8MR) ring of MOR. μ-(η2 :η2 ) peroxo sites are unstable relative to the bis(μ-oxo) motif with a small interconversion barrier. Unlike [Cu2 O]2+ which is active for methane C-H activation, [Cu2 O2 ]2+ has a very large methane C-H activation barrier in the 8MR. Stabilization of methanol and methyl at unreacted dicopper sites however leads to over-oxidation via sequential hydrogen atom abstraction steps. For methanol, these are initiated by abstraction of the CH3 group, followed by OH and can proceed near 200 °C. Thus, for [Cu2 O]2+ and [Cu2 O2 ]2+ species, over-oxidation is an inter-site process. We discuss the implications of these findings for methanol selectivity, especially in comparison to the intra-site process for [Cu3 O3 ]2+ sites and the role of Bronsted acid sites.
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TL;DR: In this paper , the effect of the Si/Al ratio on the selectivity of the active dicopper sites in CuMFI has been investigated, and it has been shown that a higher Si-Al ratio leads to the formation of mono-μ-oxo dicoppers with Cu-Cu separation of 2.9 Å and a UV/vis absorption band at 27 200 cm-1 capable of selective oxidation of methane to methanol.
Abstract: The one-step valorization of natural gas remains a challenge. Methane conversion to methanol via chemical looping over copper-containing zeolites is a promising route, and CuMFI is among the earliest successfully applied. However, the structure of the active sites in CuMFI, as well as the effect of copper loading and Si/Al ratio on the copper speciation, are yet to be understood. We found that for CuMFI, the Cu/Al ratio determines the selectivity of methane conversion by governing the structure of the active dicopper sites. At a Cu/Al ratio below 0.3, copper-containing MFI materials host dimeric centers with a Cu–Cu separation of 2.9 Å and a UV/vis absorption band at 27 200 cm–1 capable of selective oxidation of methane to methanol in a wide temperature range (450–550 K). A higher Cu/Al ratio leads to the formation of mono-μ-oxo dicopper sites with Cu–Cu = 3.2 Å, which exhibit a characteristic band at 21 900 cm–1 and react with methane at lower temperatures (<450 K), yielding overoxidation products. Identifying distinctions in the structure of selective and nonselective copper sites will aid in the design of better-performing materials.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the Hartree and Hartree-Fock equations are applied to a uniform electron gas, where the exchange and correlation portions of the chemical potential of the gas are used as additional effective potentials.
Abstract: From a theory of Hohenberg and Kohn, approximation methods for treating an inhomogeneous system of interacting electrons are developed. These methods are exact for systems of slowly varying or high density. For the ground state, they lead to self-consistent equations analogous to the Hartree and Hartree-Fock equations, respectively. In these equations the exchange and correlation portions of the chemical potential of a uniform electron gas appear as additional effective potentials. (The exchange portion of our effective potential differs from that due to Slater by a factor of $\frac{2}{3}$.) Electronic systems at finite temperatures and in magnetic fields are also treated by similar methods. An appendix deals with a further correction for systems with short-wavelength density oscillations.
47,477 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the ground state of an interacting electron gas in an external potential was investigated and it was proved that there exists a universal functional of the density, called F[n(mathrm{r})], independent of the potential of the electron gas.
Abstract: This paper deals with the ground state of an interacting electron gas in an external potential $v(\mathrm{r})$. It is proved that there exists a universal functional of the density, $F[n(\mathrm{r})]$, independent of $v(\mathrm{r})$, such that the expression $E\ensuremath{\equiv}\ensuremath{\int}v(\mathrm{r})n(\mathrm{r})d\mathrm{r}+F[n(\mathrm{r})]$ has as its minimum value the correct ground-state energy associated with $v(\mathrm{r})$. The functional $F[n(\mathrm{r})]$ is then discussed for two situations: (1) $n(\mathrm{r})={n}_{0}+\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{n}(\mathrm{r})$, $\frac{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{n}}{{n}_{0}}\ensuremath{\ll}1$, and (2) $n(\mathrm{r})=\ensuremath{\phi}(\frac{\mathrm{r}}{{r}_{0}})$ with $\ensuremath{\phi}$ arbitrary and ${r}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$. In both cases $F$ can be expressed entirely in terms of the correlation energy and linear and higher order electronic polarizabilities of a uniform electron gas. This approach also sheds some light on generalized Thomas-Fermi methods and their limitations. Some new extensions of these methods are presented.
38,160 citations
University of Udine1, National Research Council2, International School for Advanced Studies3, Massachusetts Institute of Technology4, University of Paris5, Princeton University6, University of Minnesota7, ParisTech8, University of Milan9, International Centre for Theoretical Physics10, University of Paderborn11, ETH Zurich12, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne13
TL;DR: QUANTUM ESPRESSO as discussed by the authors is an integrated suite of computer codes for electronic-structure calculations and materials modeling, based on density functional theory, plane waves, and pseudopotentials (norm-conserving, ultrasoft, and projector-augmented wave).
Abstract: QUANTUM ESPRESSO is an integrated suite of computer codes for electronic-structure calculations and materials modeling, based on density-functional theory, plane waves, and pseudopotentials (norm-conserving, ultrasoft, and projector-augmented wave). The acronym ESPRESSO stands for opEn Source Package for Research in Electronic Structure, Simulation, and Optimization. It is freely available to researchers around the world under the terms of the GNU General Public License. QUANTUM ESPRESSO builds upon newly-restructured electronic-structure codes that have been developed and tested by some of the original authors of novel electronic-structure algorithms and applied in the last twenty years by some of the leading materials modeling groups worldwide. Innovation and efficiency are still its main focus, with special attention paid to massively parallel architectures, and a great effort being devoted to user friendliness. QUANTUM ESPRESSO is evolving towards a distribution of independent and interoperable codes in the spirit of an open-source project, where researchers active in the field of electronic-structure calculations are encouraged to participate in the project by contributing their own codes or by implementing their own ideas into existing codes.
19,985 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a modification of the nudged elastic band method for finding minimum energy paths is presented, where one of the images is made to climb up along the elastic band to converge rigorously on the highest saddle point.
Abstract: A modification of the nudged elastic band method for finding minimum energy paths is presented. One of the images is made to climb up along the elastic band to converge rigorously on the highest saddle point. Also, variable spring constants are used to increase the density of images near the top of the energy barrier to get an improved estimate of the reaction coordinate near the saddle point. Applications to CH4 dissociative adsorption on Ir~111! and H2 on Si~100! using plane wave based density functional theory are presented. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. @S0021-9606~00!71246-3#
14,071 citations
TL;DR: Quantum ESPRESSO as discussed by the authors is an integrated suite of computer codes for electronic-structure calculations and materials modeling, based on density functional theory, plane waves, and pseudopotentials (norm-conserving, ultrasoft, and projector-augmented wave).
Abstract: Quantum ESPRESSO is an integrated suite of computer codes for electronic-structure calculations and materials modeling, based on density-functional theory, plane waves, and pseudopotentials (norm-conserving, ultrasoft, and projector-augmented wave). Quantum ESPRESSO stands for "opEn Source Package for Research in Electronic Structure, Simulation, and Optimization". It is freely available to researchers around the world under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Quantum ESPRESSO builds upon newly-restructured electronic-structure codes that have been developed and tested by some of the original authors of novel electronic-structure algorithms and applied in the last twenty years by some of the leading materials modeling groups worldwide. Innovation and efficiency are still its main focus, with special attention paid to massively-parallel architectures, and a great effort being devoted to user friendliness. Quantum ESPRESSO is evolving towards a distribution of independent and inter-operable codes in the spirit of an open-source project, where researchers active in the field of electronic-structure calculations are encouraged to participate in the project by contributing their own codes or by implementing their own ideas into existing codes.
13,052 citations