Exploring Ce3+/Ce4+ cation ordering in reduced ceria nanoparticles using interionic-potential and density-functional calculations

Abstract

The performance of atomistic calculations using interionic potentials has been examined in detail with respect to the structures and energetic stabilities of ten configurational isomers (i.e., distinct Ce3+/Ce4+ cationic orderings) of a low energy octahedral ceria nanoparticle Ce19O32. The outcome of these calculations is compared with the results of corresponding density-functional (DF) calculations employing local and gradient corrected functionals with an additional corrective onsite Coulombic interaction applied to the f-electrons (i.e., LDA+U and GGA+U, respectively). Strikingly similar relative energy ordering of the isomers and atomic scale structural trends (e.g., cation-cation distances) are obtained in both the DF and interionic-potential calculations. The surprisingly good agreement between the DF electronic structure calculations and the relatively simple classical potentials is not found to be due to a single dominant interaction type but is due to a sensitive balance between long range electrostatics and local bonding contributions to the energy. Considering the relatively high computational cost and technical difficulty involved in obtaining charge-localized electronic solutions for reduced ceria using DF calculations, the use of interionic potentials for rapid and reliable preselection of the most stable Ce3+/Ce4+ cationic orderings is of considerable benefit.