Cationic Gold Clusters Research Articles

CO Oxidation on Cationic Gold Clusters: A Theoretical Study

Aiming at understanding the elementary steps governing the oxidation of CO catalyzed by dispersed or supported gold nanoclusters, the reactivity of molecular species, such as O2 and CO, on neutral and positively charged Au13 clusters have been studied using a DFT approach. Two CO oxidation mechanisms have been simulated, involving respectively the adsorption of CO and O2 on adjacent catalytic sites (two-sites mechanism) and the competitive interaction of the reactants on the same site (single-site mechanism). It is demonstrated that in the former scheme a definite interaction of CO and O2 with both the charged and neutral cluster is effective, but that a chemical reaction between the adsorbates does not take place. Only the latter mechanism on positively charged Au13 cluster can give rise to the rupture of dioxygen and carbon dioxide formation. Detailed reaction paths corresponding to this case are calculated.

Theoretical Study of Oxygen Adsorption on Pure Aun+1+ and Doped MAun+ Cationic Gold Clusters for M = Ti, Fe and n = 3−7

A comparative study of the adsorption of an O2 molecule on pure Au(n+1)+ and doped MAu(n)+ cationic gold clusters for n = 3-7 and M = Ti, Fe is presented. The simultaneous adsorption of two oxygen atoms also was studied. This work was performed by means of first principles calculations based on norm-conserving pseudo-potentials and numerical basis sets. For pure Au4 +, Au6+, and Au7+ clusters, the O2 molecule is adsorbed preferably on top of low coordinated Au atoms, with an adsorption energy smaller than 0.5 eV. Instead, for Au5+ and Au8+, bridge adsorption sites are preferred with adsorption energies of 0.56 and 0.69 eV, respectively. The ground-state geometry of Au(n)+ is almost unperturbed after O2 adsorption. The electronic charge flows towards O2 when the molecule is adsorbed in bridge positions and towards the gold cluster when O2 is adsorbed on top of Au atoms, and both the adsorption energy and the O-O bond length of adsorbed oxygen increase when the amount of electronic charge on O2 increases. On the other hand, we studied the adsorption of an O2 molecule on doped MAu(n)+ clusters, leading to the formation of (MAu(n)O2+) ad complexes with different equilibrium configurations. The highest adsorption energy was obtained when both atoms of O2 bind on top of the M impurity, and it is larger for Ti doped clusters than for Fe doped clusters, showing an odd-even effect trend with size n, which is opposite for Ti as compared to Fe complexes. For those adsorption configurations of (MAu(n)O2+) ad involving only Au sites, the adsorption energy is similar to or smaller than that for similar configurations of Au(n)+1O2 + complexes. However, the highest adsorption energy of (MAu(n)O2+) ad is higher than that for (Au(n)+1O2+) ad by a factor of approximately 4.0 (1.2) for M = Ti (M = Fe). The trends with size n are rationalized in terms of O-O and O-M bond distances, as well as charge transfer between oxygen and cluster substrates. The spin multiplicity of those (MAu(n)O2+) ad complexes with the highest O2 adsorption energy is a maximum (minimum) for M = Fe (Ti), corresponding to parallel (anti-parallel) spin coupling of MAu(n)+ clusters and O2 molecules. Finally, we obtained the minimum energy equilibrium structure of complexes (Au(n)O2+) dis and (MAu(n)O2+) dis containing two separated O atoms bonded at different sites of Au(n)+ and MAu(n)+ clusters, respectively. For (MAu(n)O2 (+)) dis, the equilibrium configuration with the highest adsorption energy is stable against separation in MAu(n)+ and O2 fragments, respectively. Instead, for (Au(n)O2+) dis, only the complex n = 6 is stable against separation in Au(n)+ and O2 fragments. The maximum separation energy of (MAu(n)O2+) dis is higher than the O2 adsorption energy of (MAu(n)O2+) ad complexes by factors of approximately 1.6 (2.5), 1.6 (1.7), 1.5 (2.4), 1.5 (1.3), and 1.6 (1.8) for M = Ti (Fe) complexes in the range n = 3-7, respectively.

Gas-Phase Reactivity of Gold Oxide Cluster Cations with CO

Gold oxide cluster cations, containing one to four gold atoms and between one and five oxygen atoms, were investigated employing guided-ion-beam mass spectrometry to gain insight into their reactivity with CO. Clusters with one atomically bound oxygen atom (AuO+, Au2O+, and Au3O+) were found to be reactive and selective toward oxidation of one CO molecule facilitated by adsorption of a second CO. Furthermore, the mono-oxide clusters with an odd number of gold atoms (AuO+ and Au3O+) were determined to be more reactive than Au2O+. Species with higher oxygen content favored adsorption of one CO molecule onto the cluster accompanied by the loss of either one or two O2 molecules, indicating that binding of O2 molecules to positively charged gold clusters does not prevent the subsequent chemisorption of CO. Clusters with two or more gold atoms exhibited products corresponding to loss of AuO2 when reacted with CO. Positively charged gas-phase gold clusters, therefore, may be broken apart by the exothermic adsorption of CO. Product cluster ions resulting from these O2 and AuO2 loss processes appear to show further reactivity for both the oxidation of CO and the adsorption of additional CO molecules. These findings provide insight into the role of positively charged centers in gold based nanocatalysis.

On the origin of bonding and vibrational frequency shifts for CO adsorbed on neutral, cationic and anionic gold clusters

We report a detailed analysis of the electronic mechanisms which determine the bond strength and the vibrational frequency of CO molecules adsorbed on neutral or charged gold nanoparticles. To this end we have considered a simple cluster model, Au5COq (q = +1, 0, −1), and decomposed the Au-CO interaction energy into the sum of various contributions according to a Constrained Space Orbital Variation approach. While the adsorption energy is relatively insensitive to the value of q, the C-O stretch frequency, ωe(CO), changes substantially, and allows the use of this molecule as a direct probe of the gold oxidation state. The results show that two major terms contribute to the red or blue shift of ωe(CO) as a function of q: the interaction with the electric field associated to the charged nanoparticle (Stark effect) and the Au → CO Φ back donation. The CO → Au σ donation is about half as important as the Φ back-donation and all other terms are much less important.

Influence of Charge State on the Mechanism of CO Oxidation on Gold Clusters

We present results from our joint experimental and theoretical study of the reactivity of anionic and cationic gold oxide clusters toward CO, focusing on the role of atomic oxygen, different charge states, and mechanisms for oxidation. We show that anionic clusters react by an Eley-Rideal-like mechanism involving the preferential attack of CO on oxygen rather than gold. In contrast, the oxidation of CO on cationic gold oxide clusters can occur by both an Eley-Rideal-like and a Langmuir-Hinshelwood-like mechanism at multiple collision conditions as a result of the high adsorption energy of two CO molecules. This large energy of CO adsorption on cationic gold oxide clusters is the driving force for the CO oxidation. Therefore, in the presence of cationic gold species at high pressures of CO, the oxidation reaction is self-promoting (i.e., the oxidation of one CO molecule is promoted by the binding of a second CO). Our findings provide new insight into the role of charge state in gold-cluster-based nanocatalysis.

Binding energy and preferred adsorption sites of CO on gold and silver–gold cluster cations: Adsorption kinetics and quantum chemical calculations

We revisit the reactivity of trapped pure gold (Au(n)+, n < 26) and silver gold alloy cluster cations (Ag(m)Au(n)+, m + n < 7) with carbon monoxide as studied in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer. The experimental results are discussed in terms of ab initio computations which provide a comprehensive picture of the chemical binding behaviour (like binding energy, adsorption sites, associated vibrational frequencies) of CO to the noble metal as a function of cluster size and composition. Starting from results for pure gold cluster cations for which an overall decrease of CO binding energy with increasing cluster size was experimentally observed--from about 1.09 +/- 0.1 eV (for n = 6) to below 0.65 +/- 0.1 eV (for n > 26) we demonstrate that metal--CO bond energies correlate with the total electron density and with the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) on the bare metal cluster cation as obtained by density functional theory (DFT) computations. This is a consequence of the predominantly sigma-donating character of the CO-M bond. Further support for this concept is found by contrasting the predictions of binding energies to the experimental results for small alloy cluster cations (Ag(m)Au(n)+, 4 < m + n < 7) as a function of composition. Here, binding energy drops with increasing silver content, while CO still binds always in a head-on fashion to a gold atom. Finally we show how the CO stretch frequency of Ag(m)Au(n)CO+ may be used to identify possible adsorption sites and pre-screen favorable isomers.

Stability and dissociation pathways of doped AunX+clusters (X = Y, Er, Nb)

Size dependent stabilities, fragmentation pathways and dissociation energies of a series of gas phase cationic doped gold clusters, Au(n)X+ (3 < or = n < or = 20; X = Y, Er and Nb), and pure Au(n)+ clusters were investigated in photofragmentation experiments. Size dependent stability patterns were obtained and the branching between monomer and dimer evaporation was studied. For bare gold, the competing neutral monomer and dimer evaporation channels were found to be in agreement with earlier studies. For doped clusters, monomer evaporation is the most likely fragmentation channel with the exception of Au18Y+ and Au20Y+ for which gold dimer evaporation is also observed. Relations between the evaporative activation energies and both the experimental abundances and the fragment yield were derived based on unimolecular rate constants. The dissociation energies from this analysis show an odd-even staggering and enhanced stabilities for certain cluster sizes, in agreement with simple electronic shell model predictions.

Catalysis by gold dispersed on supports: the importance of cationic gold

There are many examples of catalysis in solution by cationic complexes of gold, and recent results, reviewed here in this critical review, demonstrate that cationic gold species on oxide and zeolite supports are also catalytically active, for reactions including ethylene hydrogenation and CO oxidation. The catalytically active gold species on supports are evidently not restricted to isolated mononuclear gold complexes, but include gold clusters, which for at least some reactions are more active than the mononuclear complexes and for some reactions less active. Fundamental questions remain about the nature of cationic gold in supported catalysts, such as the nature of the cationic gold clusters and the nature of gold atoms at metal-support interfaces (88 references).

How cationic gold clusters respond to a single sulfur atom

Results describing the interaction of a single sulfur atom with cationic gold clusters (Au(n) (+), n=1-8) using density functional theory are described. Stability of these clusters is studied through their binding energies, second order differences in the total energies, fragmentation behavior, and atom attachment energies. The lowest energy structures for these clusters appear to be three dimensional right from n=3. In most cases the sulfur atom in the structure of Au(n)S(+) is observed to displace the gold atom siting at the peripheral site of the Au(n) (+) cluster. The dissociation channels of Au(n)S(+) clusters follow the same trend as Au(n) (+) cluster, based on the even/odd number of gold atoms in the cluster, with the exception of Au(3)S(+). This cluster dissociates into Au and Au(2)S(+), signifying the relative stability of Au(2)S(+) cluster regardless of having an odd number of valence electrons. Clusters with an even number of gold atoms dissociate into Au and Au(n-1)(S)(+) and clusters with an odd number of gold atoms dissociate into Au(2) and Au(n-2)(S)(+) clusters. An empirical relation is found between the conduction molecular orbital and the number of atoms in the Au(n)S(+) cluster.

Adsorption of molecular hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide on Au clusters

The authors present theoretical results describing the adsorption of H2 and H2S molecules on small neutral and cationic gold clusters (Au(n)((0/+1)), n=1-8) using density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation. Lowest energy structures of the gold clusters along with their isomers are considered in the optimization process for molecular adsorption. The adsorption energies of H2S molecule on the cationic clusters are generally greater than those on the corresponding neutral clusters. These are also greater than the H2 adsorption energies on the corresponding cationic and neutral clusters. The adsorption energies for cationic clusters decrease with increasing cluster size. This fact is reflected in the elongations of the Au-S and Au-H bonds indicating weak adsorption as the cluster grows. In most cases, the geometry of the lowest energy gold cluster remains planar even after the adsorption. In addition, the adsorbed molecule gets adjusted such that its center of mass lies on the plane of the gold cluster. Study of the orbital charge density of the gold adsorbed H2S molecule reveals that conduction is possible through molecular orbitals other than the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital level. The dissociation of the cationic Au(n)SH2+ cluster into Au(n)S+ and H2 is preferred over the dissociation into Au(m)SH2+ and Au(n-m), where n=2-8 and m=1-(n-1). H2S adsorbed clusters with odd number of gold atoms are more stable than neighboring even n clusters.

Spectroscopic features and reactivity of CO adsorbed on different Au/CeO 2 catalysts

An FTIR study of CO adsorption from 120 K up to room temperature on a series of Au–ceria samples is presented. Samples with low gold content (0.7 and 0.6 at%) were prepared by urea gelation/co-precipitation and by cyanide leaching of the high-gold content (5.8 at%) material prepared by deposition–precipitation on La-doped CeO 2. The samples were subjected to different pretreatments to collect information on the surface composition under working conditions. An absorption band at 2130–2140 cm −1, not reversible on outgassing and more resistant to oxidation than the usual carbonyl band on Au 0 sites, was present due to CO adsorbed on cationic gold clusters. This highly stable species is relevant for hydrogen gas upgrade by removing CO from reformate-type gases at low temperatures. In addition, a broad absorption band in the 2000–2100 cm −1 range was observed after reduction in hydrogen, due to structural and electronic changes of gold. Interestingly, the reduced gold species in ceria can be reoxidized at mild conditions. Light-off of the CO oxidation reaction took place below room temperature on the metallic gold-containing ceria but was delayed until 310 K on the ionic gold-containing sample. TPR and XPS analysis of the fresh and used catalysts corroborated the stability of ionic gold in ceria up to 393 K in the reaction gas mixture.

Geometry and electronic properties of bimetallic AunY(n=1—9) clusters

A systematic study on the equilibrium geometries and electronic properties of Y-doped gold clusters has been studied by density functional theory calculations. The stability and electronic properties of doped gold clusters are similar to that of pure gold clusters. Their inonization potential and electron affinities alter with odd-even oscillation as a function of the number of atoms. The magic-number behaviour is observed in the Y-doped gold cluster cations, which is in good agreement with the mass spectrum experiment. Thus Au2Y+ and Au6Y+ are more stable than other clustered cations. The most stable isomers of the Y-doped gold cluster tend to have the maximized coordination number of Au atom.

Publisher’s Note: “Binding energies of CO on gold cluster cations Aun+ (n=1–65): A radiative association kinetics study” [J. Chem. Phys. 122, 104702 (2005)

Publisher’s Note: “Binding energies of CO on gold cluster cations Aun+ (n=1–65): A radiative association kinetics study” [J. Chem. Phys. 122, 104702 (2005)

Gold Cluster Carbonyls: Saturated Adsorption of CO on Gold Cluster Cations, Vibrational Spectroscopy, and Implications for Their Structures

We report on the interaction of carbon monoxide with cationic gold clusters in the gas phase. Successive adsorption of CO molecules on the Au(n)(+) clusters proceeds until a cluster size specific saturation coverage is reached. Structural information for the bare gold clusters is obtained by comparing the saturation stoichiometry with the number of available equivalent sites presented by candidate structures of Au(n)(+). Our findings are in agreement with the planar structures of the Au(n)(+) cluster cations with n < or = 7 that are suggested by ion mobility experiments [Gilb, S.; Weis, P.; Furche, F.; Ahlrichs, R.; Kappes, M. M. J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 116, 4094]. By inference we also establish the structure of the saturated Au(n)(CO)(m)(+) complexes. In certain cases we find evidence suggesting that successive adsorption of CO can distort the metal cluster framework. In addition, the vibrational spectra of the Au(n)(CO)(m)(+) complexes in both the CO stretching region and in the region of the Au-C stretch and the Au-C-O bend are measured using infrared photodepletion spectroscopy. The spectra further aid in the structure determination of Au(n)(+), provide information on the structure of the Au(n)(+)-CO complexes, and can be compared with spectra of CO adsorbates on deposited clusters or surfaces.

Binding energies of CO on gold cluster cations Aun+ (n=1–65): A radiative association kinetics study

Room temperature CO adsorption on isolated gold cluster cations is studied over a wide size range (Au(n) (+),1<n<66) in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. Kinetic data which yield absolute bimolecular rate constants are analyzed by means of a radiative association model to give adsorption energies for the first CO molecule binding to the gold cluster ions. The results show that the binding energies decrease with increasing cluster size from about 1.09+/-0.1 eV (n=6) to below 0.65+/-0.1 eV (for n>26), with notable exceptions at n=30, 31 and 48, 49 which manifest local binding energy maxima. For the smallest sizes (3<n<9 and n=20), the experimental CO-Au(n) (+) binding energies are compared with those found for the most stable isomers by density functional theory based ab initio computations. While the overall size trend can be understood in terms of classical electrostatics, the atom by atom variations are likely due to differently coordinated binding sites available on the gold clusters.

Structure and energetics of small gold nanoclusters and their positive ions

We performed density functional theory calculations at the PW91PW91/LANL2DZ, PW91PW91/Stuttgart 1997, PW91PW91/CRENBL, B3LYP/LANL2DZ, and SVWN5/LANL2DZ levels of theory to attain the minimum-energy structures of neutral and cationic gold clusters of up to nine gold atoms. We locate the 2D-to-3D (two-dimensional to three-dimensional) transition in cationic clusters as occurring between Au(8) (+) and Au(9) (+). We also demonstrate that we can correlate the 2D-to-3D transition in cationic clusters with a linear extrapolation of the energy differences of the lowest-lying 2D and 3D structures of cluster sizes below the transition. We then use the same approach to predict that the 2D-to-3D transition occurs in neutral clusters at Au(11); this is confirmed by locating 3D Au(11) structures that are lower in energy than the best 2D structures reported to date. We examine the effects of choice of basis sets and exchange-correlation functionals on the relative stabilities and other properties of the calculated structures. Finally we find that there is good agreement between calculated and experimental data for clusters with up to six constituent atoms. For clusters with more than seven atoms, there are significant differences observed between the calculated and experimental properties using SVWN5/LANL2DZ, but there is still good agreement for the other levels of theory used.

Structure and energetics of two- and three-dimensional neutral, cationic, and anionic gold clusters Au5⩽n⩽9Z (Z=0,±1)

Low-energy structures are found on the potential energy surfaces of the neutral, cationic, and anionic gold clusters Au(5< or = n < or =9)Z (Z=0,+/-1) and on the neutral potential energy surface of Au(9). These structures provide insights on the two to three dimensional (2D-->3D) transition in small neutral and charged gold clusters. It is demonstrated that the size threshold for the 2D-3D coexistence is lower for cationic than neutral gold clusters: the 2D-3D coexistence develops for Au(5) (+) and Au(7) (+) on the cationic potential energy surfaces while only for Au(9) on the neutral. Two metastable long-lived dianions of gold clusters are also reported.

Direct observation of size dependent activation of NO on gold clusters

Vibrational spectra of NO ligands adsorbed on cationic gold clusters are obtained using IR multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy. We observe a strong oscillation of the NO stretching frequency with increasing cluster size that reveals a clear odd-even dependence in the strength of the NO bond. For the corresponding CO complexes, no oscillation is found. This behaviour can be understood on the basis of the character and occupation of the frontier orbitals of the complexes.

Trends in the structure and bonding of noble metal clusters

We present a systematic study of the electronic properties and the geometric structure of noble metal clusters ${X}_{n}^{\ensuremath{\nu}}$ ($X=\mathrm{Cu}$, Ag, Au; $\ensuremath{\nu}=\ensuremath{-}1,0,+1$; $n\ensuremath{\leqslant}13$ and $n=20$), obtained from first-principles generalized gradient approximation density functional calculations based on norm-conserving pseudopotentials and numerical atomic basis sets. We obtain planar structures for the ground state of anionic $(\ensuremath{\nu}=\ensuremath{-}1)$, neutral $(\ensuremath{\nu}=0)$, and cationic $(\ensuremath{\nu}=1)$ species of gold clusters with up to 12, 11, and 7 atoms, respectively. In contrast, the maximum size of planar clusters with $\ensuremath{\nu}=\ensuremath{-}1,0,+1$ are $n=(5,6,5)$ for silver and (5,6,4) for copper. For ${X}_{20}$ we find a ${T}_{d}$ symmetry for gold and a compact ${C}_{s}$ structure for silver and copper. Our results for the cluster geometries agree partially with previous first-principles calculations, and they are in good agreement with recent experimental results for anionic and cationic gold clusters. The tendency to planarity of gold clusters, which is much larger than in copper and silver, is strongly favored by relativistic effects, which decrease the $s\text{\ensuremath{-}}d$ promotion energy and lead to hybridization of the half-filled $6s$ orbital with the fully occupied $5{d}_{{z}^{2}}$ orbital. That picture is substantiated by analyzing our calculated density matrix for planar and three-dimensional clusters of gold and copper. The trends for the cohesive energy, ionization potentials, electron affinities, and highest accupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap, as the cluster size increases, are studied in detail for each noble metal and rationalized in terms of two- and three-dimensional electronic shell models. The most probable fragmentation channels for ${X}_{n}^{\ensuremath{\nu}}$ clusters are in very good agreement with available experiments.

Gas-phase studies of AunOm+ interacting with carbon monoxide

The results of reactions between preformed cationic gold oxide clusters and carbon monoxide have been investigated utilizing a fast-flow reactor mass spectrometer. From these studies, it was found that all AunOm+ produced in the cluster source disappeared with CO addition at the reactant gas inlet. Furthermore, with CO addition, intermediate peaks of the form AunOm(CO)x+ (n=1–2, m=0–3, x=0–2) were produced, with some of the species continuing to react at higher CO flows.