Interaction of Dioxygen with Al Clusters and Al(111): A Comparative Theoretical Study

Abstract

We have studied the interaction of an oxygen molecule with Al clusters and Al(111) using both wave-function-based quantum chemistry methods and density functional theory (DFT). These calculations were motivated by the fact that molecular beam experiments indicate that the adsorption of O2 on Al(111) should be activated whereas periodic DFT calculations yield purely attractive adsorption paths for almost all impact configurations of O2 on Al(111). On small Al4 clusters, accurate wave-function-based quantum chemistry methods find a non-vanishing barrier in the O2 adsorption. The DFT calculations for slabs and larger Al clusters confirm the important role of spin effects for the O2 dissociation barrier on Al. The results indicate that exchange-correlation effects play a crucial role for the determination of the adsorption barrier in the O2/Al system but their determination is hampered by serious technical problems that are discussed in detail.