A general procedure which computes X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure (XANES) spectra starting from the individual configurations obtained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations has been ...developed. This method allows one to perform a quantitative analysis of the XANES spectra of disordered systems and to estimate the effect of disorder on the low‐energy region of the X‐ray absorption spectra. As a test case, a Ni2+ aqueous solution has been investigated. The configurational averaged XANES theoretical spectrum obtained from the MD configurations compares well with the experimental data. This confirms simultaneously the reliability of the procedure and of the structural results obtained from the MD simulation.
In this work, density functional theory (DFT) was used to obtain microscopic structures of heterogeneous catalysts based on rhodium supported on a metal oxide (-Al2O3). Two different methodologies ...were used. The first methodology uses a periodic model and a plane-wave basis set to solve the Schrödinger equation in the framework of Bloch’s theorem. The optimised structures of RhI(CO)2/ -Al2O3 species obtained at this level of theory have bond lengths in agreement with experimental EXAFS determinations. The weighted linear combination of Rh K-edge XANES spectra computed using the three most dominant structures reproduces well the phase and shape of the oscillations of the experimental XANES spectrum, providing support for the computed structures. The second methodology is based on hybrid quantum mechanical (QM)/molecular mechanical (MM) calculations. Within this scheme the support is described at the MM level of theory while the region of interest, the absorption site where the surface RhI(CO)2 complex lies, is described with a suitable QM approach. These hybrid calculations performed at the PBE/ECP/cc-pVDZ level of theory were used to obtainminimum-energy structures and harmonic stretching frequencies of RhI(CO)2/-Al2O3 species. The computed bond lengths and harmonic stretching frequencies were in good agreement with the experimental evidence and with the results obtained using periodic models
The appearance of surface-induced phases of molecular crystals is a frequently observed phenomenon in organic electronics. However, despite their fundamental importance, the origin of such phases is ...not yet fully resolved. The organic molecule 6,6′-dibromoindigo (Tyrian purple) forms two polymorphs within thin films. At growth temperatures of 150 °C, the well-known bulk structure forms, while at a substrate temperature of 50 °C, a surface-induced phase is observed instead. In the present work, the crystal structure of the surface-induced polymorph is solved by a combined experimental and theoretical approach using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and molecular dynamics simulations. A comparison of both phases reveals that π–π stacking and hydrogen bonds are common motifs for the intermolecular packing. In-situ temperature studies reveal a phase transition from the surface-induced phase to the bulk phase at a temperature of 210 °C; the irreversibility of the transition indicates that the surface-induced phase is metastable. The crystallization behavior is investigated ex-situ starting from the sub-monolayer regime up to a nominal thickness of 9 nm using two different silicon oxide surfaces; island formation is observed together with a slight variation of the crystal structure. This work shows that surface-induced phases not only appear for compounds with weak, isotropic van der Waals bonds, but also for molecules exhibiting strong and highly directional hydrogen bonds.
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