ReaxFF Parameters Research Articles

Atomistic-Scale Analysis of Carbon Coating and Its Effect on the Oxidation of Aluminum Nanoparticles by ReaxFF-Molecular Dynamics Simulations

We developed a ReaxFF reactive force field for Al/C interactions to investigate carbon coating and its effect on the oxidation of aluminum nanoparticles (ANPs). The ReaxFF parameters were optimized against quantum mechanics-based (QM-based) training sets and validated with additional QM data and data from experimental literature. ReaxFF-molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to determine whether this force field description was suitable to model the surface deposition and oxidation on complex materials (i.e., carbon-coated ANPs). Our results show that the ReaxFF description correctly reproduced the Al/C interaction energies obtained from the QM calculations and qualitatively captured the processes of the hydrocarbons’ binding and their subsequent reactions on the bare ANPs. The results of the MD simulations indicate that a carbon coating layer was formed on the surface of the bare ANPs, while H atoms were transferred from the hydrocarbons to the available Al binding sites typically without bre...

(Invited) Computational Design of Coatings, Interfaces, and Nano-Structures for Si Based Electrodes

The chemical composition and mechanical properties change of coating materials, interfaces, and Si itself during lithiation and delithiation process imposed a grand challenge to design coating/Si nanostructure as an integrated electrode system. In our work, reactive force field (ReaxFF) parameters for Li-Si-Al-O-F were developed along with a new algorithm to simulate lithiation and delithation processes with different rates. With the reactive dynamics simulations, we were able to simultaneously track and correlate the lithiation-delithiation rate, compositional change, mechanical property evolution, stress distributions, and fracture. Interesting insights were obtained from these studies. For example, it was found that the lithiation rate during the initial mixing stage increases exponentially with vacancy concentrations in Si; and it was discovered the self-accelerating Li diffusion in Al2O3 coating forms a well-defined Li concentration gradient, leading to an elastic modulus gradient, which effectively avoids local stress concentration and mitigates crack propagation. A new mechanics model based on these varying properties was developed to determine how to stabilize the coating with a critical size ratio.

Multifactorial global search algorithm in the problem of optimizing a reactive force field

We present a new multifactorial global search algorithm (MGSA) and check the operability of the algorithm on the Michalewicz and Rastrigin functions. We discuss the choice of an objective function and additional search criteria in the context of the problem of reactive force field (ReaxFF) optimization and study the ranking of the ReaxFF parameters together with their impact on the objective function.

Self-generated concentration and modulus gradient coating design to protect Si nano-wire electrodes during lithiation.

Surface coatings as artificial solid electrolyte interphases have been actively pursued as an effective way to improve the cycle efficiency of nanostructured Si electrodes for high energy density lithium ion batteries, where the mechanical stability of the surface coatings on Si is as critical as Si itself. However, the chemical composition and mechanical property change of coating materials during the lithiation and delithiation process imposed a grand challenge to design coating/Si nanostructure as an integrated electrode system. In our work, we first developed reactive force field (ReaxFF) parameters for Li-Si-Al-O materials to simulate the lithiation process of Si-core/Al2O3-shell and Si-core/SiO2-shell nanostructures. With reactive dynamics simulations, we were able to simultaneously track and correlate the lithiation rate, compositional change, mechanical property evolution, stress distributions, and fracture. A new mechanics model based on these varying properties was developed to determine how to stabilize the coating with a critical size ratio. Furthermore, we discovered that the self-accelerating Li diffusion in Al2O3 coating forms a well-defined Li concentration gradient, leading to an elastic modulus gradient, which effectively avoids local stress concentration and mitigates crack propagation. Based on these results, we propose a modulus gradient coating, softer outside, harder inside, as the most efficient coating to protect the Si electrode surface and improve its current efficiency.

Development of a ReaxFF potential for Ag/Zn/O and application to Ag deposition on ZnO

A new empirical potential has been derived to model an Ag–Zn–O system. Additional parameters have been included into the reactive force field (ReaxFF) parameter set established for ZnO to describe the interaction between Ag and ZnO for use in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The reactive force field parameters have been fitted to density functional theory (DFT) calculations performed on both bulk crystal and surface structures. ReaxFF accurately reproduces the equations of state determined for silver, silver zinc alloy and silver oxide crystals via DFT. It also compares well to DFT binding energies and works of separation for Ag on a ZnO surface. The potential was then used to model single point Ag deposition on polar (0001¯) and non-polar (101¯0) orientations of a ZnO wurtzite substrate, at different energies. Simulation results then predict that maximum Ag adsorption on a ZnO surface requires deposition energies of ≤10eV.

Evaluation of reactive force fields for prediction of the thermo-mechanical properties of cellulose Iβ

Molecular dynamics simulation is commonly used to study the properties of nanocellulose-based materials at the atomic scale. It is well known that the accuracy of these simulations strongly depends on the force field that describes energetic interactions. However, since there is no force field developed specifically for cellulose, researchers utilize models parameterized for other materials. In this work, we evaluate three reactive force field (ReaxFF) parameter sets and compare them with two commonly-used non-reactive force fields (COMPASS and GLYCAM) in terms of their ability to predict lattice parameters, elastic constants, coefficients of thermal expansion, and the anisotropy of cellulose Iβ. We find that none is able to accurately predict these properties. However, for future studies focused on a given property, this paper presents the information needed to identify the force field that will yield the most accurate results.

Reactive Force-Field Development for Metal/Ceramic SOFC Anode Modeling

We developed a reactive force field (ReaxFF) for Ni/ZrO2 system. Using ReaxFF molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the interfacial energies, work of separation and atomic structures of Ni/ZrO2 interfaces are evaluated. It is found that low index plane is favorable to form stable interface. Among interfaces formed by high index planes, one that contains Ni(311) and ZrO2(113) planes has high interfacial energies and lower work of separation. Larger work of separation and low interface energy was obtained, when interface is composed by the low index planes, such as (111) and (220). Our developed ReaxFF parameters allow us to study metal-ceramic cermet anode for solid oxide fuel cell.

Insight into the Lithiation of SiO2 As a New Energy Storage Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries

Silica (SiO2) has been considered as a promising anode material of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) due to its similar advantages of storing a large quantity of lithium and low discharge potentials of Silicon (Si) electrodes. Besides, Atomic layer deposition of SiO2is a predominant coting material to mitigate the chemo-mechanical degradation of Si nanostructures anode. Si anodes coated with native oxide layer can sustain more than 6000 cycles with little capacity fade. Therefore, it is vital to determine the effect of the oxide layers on the volume expansion, lithium insertion and the morphology changes of Si anodes in LIBs. While the lithiation of Silicon (Si) has been extensively studied from both experimental and theoretical point of view, the underlying mechanism of lithium insertion in the silicon oxide has not yet been recognized well. To better understand the lithiation behavior in SiO2 at the atomistic level we herein performed a series of reactive molecular dynamics simulation combining with the grand canonical montecarlo (GCMC) to demonstrate the lithiation behavior of SiO2. In addition, the Li transports throughout both crystalline and amorphous silica have been investigated. ReaxFF parameters are improved to account for the interaction of Li with Si and O atoms. We performed density functional theory calculations to examine the structural evolution, bonding mechanism, and voltage profile of lithiated c-SiO2 and a-SiO2. Both ReaxFF and DFT results indicate anisotropic long range Li-diffusion throughout the a-Quartz lattice. More specifically, Li should overcome 0.12 eV barrier heights when it transports along the c-axis of α-Quartz crystal, whereas the barrier of diffusion for Li moving perpendicular to the c-axis is calculated around 0.9 eV. Li transport throughout a-SiO2 bulk is also investigated and the results are compared with barriers obtained from DFT simulations. Figure 1

Study of Metal/Epoxy Interfaces between Epoxy Precursors and Metal Surfaces Using a Newly Developed Reactive Force Field for Alumina–Amine Adhesion

In this work, we study the adhesion between various alumina surfaces and precursors of amine-containing epoxies. To accomplish this we have developed a reactive force field (ReaxFF) parametrization for the aluminum–nitrogen interaction and combined this with the aluminum-water and glycine force fields reported in earlier work. Molecular clusters and reaction paths selected to model interfacial phenomena of amine-containing epoxy precursors on alumina were used in the fitting of the ReaxFF parameters. It is shown how this new force field satisfactorily reproduces equilibrium bond lengths and angles as well as binding energies for the proposed structures. Reaction profiles are also fitted in agreement with ab initio calculations performed making use of the nudge elastic band method. To substantiate the parametrization, room temperature molecular dynamics results of ammonia adsorption on alumina are compared using ab initio and ReaxFF methods. Using this new interaction scheme, adsorption energies of dimethy...

Parameterizing complex reactive force fields using multiple objective evolutionary strategies (MOES). Part 1: ReaxFF models for cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX) and 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethene (FOX-7).

ReaxFF (van Duin, A.C.T.; Dasgupta, S.; Lorant, F.; Goddard, W.A. J. Phys. Chem. A, 2001, 105, 9396-9409) reactive potentials are parametrized for cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX) and 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethene (FOX-7) in a novel application combining data envelopment analysis and a modern self-adaptive evolutionary algorithm to optimize multiple objectives simultaneously and map the entire family of solutions. In order to correct the poor crystallographic parameters predicted by ReaxFF using its base parametrization (Strachan, A.; van Duin, A. C. T.; Chakraborty, D.; Dasgupta S.; Goddard, W. A. Phys. Rev. Lett., 2003, 91, 098301), we augmented the existing training set data used for parametrization with additional (SAPT)DFT calculations of RDX and FOX-7 dimer interactions. By adjusting a small subset of the ReaxFF parameters that govern long-range interactions, the evolutionary algorithm approach converges on a family of solutions that best describe crystallographic parameters through simultaneous optimization of the objective functions. Molecular dynamics calculations of RDX and FOX-7 are conducted to assess the quality of the force fields, resulting in parametrizations that improve the overall prediction of the crystal structures.

Development of a ReaxFF reactive force field for tetrabutylphosphonium glycinate/CO2 mixtures.

Carbon dioxide interacts with the ionic liquid tetrabutylphosphonium glycinate, [P(C4)4][Gly], through both physical and chemical absorption. We present a parametrization of the ReaxFF force field for this system that accounts for both chemical and physical interactions. The parametrization was developed from an extensive training set including periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations of reaction pathways between CO2 and the anion [Gly](-) in the condensed phase, condensed-phase molecular dynamics (MD) configurations, gas-phase CO2-anion and CO2-cation interactions, and gas-phase cluster calculations for intra-ion interactions. The optimized ReaxFF parameters capture the essential features of both physical and chemical interactions between CO2 and [P(C4)4][Gly] as compared with experiments, van der Waals-corrected DFT calculations, or, in the case of physical interactions, classical force field calculations. The probability distributions of the distance between C (from CO2) and N (from the anion) and the CO2 bend angles calculated from MD simulations with the optimized ReaxFF force field are in good general agreement with those from DFT-based MD simulations. We predict that the density of CO2/[P(C4)4][Gly] mixtures increases with increasing CO2 concentration up to at least 50 mol % CO2. We attribute the significant increase in density to the small effective volume occupied by chemically bound CO2 in the mixture. The predicted increase in density may be tested experimentally.

Improved ReaxFF Force Field Parameters for Au–S–C–H Systems

Evaluation and reparameterization of previously reported ReaxFF parameters (Järvi, T. T.; et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2011, 115, 10315-10322) is carried out for Au-S-C-H systems. Changes in Au-S and Au-Au bond parameters and S-Au-S angle bending parameters yield improvements for bond bending potential energy surfaces. The new ReaxFF parameters lead to good agreement with density functional theory geometries of small clusters and gold-thiolate nanoparticles. The energies of Au38(SCH3)24 clusters are compared, and the new ReaxFF calculations are also in good agreement with PBE calculations for the isomer orderings. In addition, the relative energies of Au40(SCH3)24 nanoparticles and Au-thiolate SAMs are calculated using the updated parameters. These new ReaxFF parameters will enable the study of the geometries and reactivity of larger gold-thiolate nanoparticles.

Parametric Study of ReaxFF Simulation Parameters for Molecular Dynamics Modeling of Reactive Carbon Gases.

The development of innovative carbon-based materials can be greatly facilitated by molecular modeling techniques. Although the Reax Force Field (ReaxFF) can be used to simulate the chemical behavior of carbon-based systems, the simulation settings required for accurate predictions have not been fully explored. Using the ReaxFF, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to simulate the chemical behavior of pure carbon and hydrocarbon reactive gases that are involved in the formation of carbon structures such as graphite, buckyballs, amorphous carbon, and carbon nanotubes. It is determined that the maximum simulation time step that can be used in MD simulations with the ReaxFF is dependent on the simulated temperature and selected parameter set, as are the predicted reaction rates. It is also determined that different carbon-based reactive gases react at different rates, and that the predicted equilibrium structures are generally the same for the different ReaxFF parameter sets, except in the case of the predicted formation of large graphitic structures with the Chenoweth parameter set under specific conditions.

A reactive force field for lithium–aluminum silicates with applications to eucryptite phases

We have parameterized a reactive force field (ReaxFF) for lithium–aluminum silicates using density functional theory (DFT) calculations of structural properties of a number of bulk phase oxides, silicates and aluminates, as well as of several representative clusters. The force field parameters optimized in this study were found to predict lattice parameters and heats of formation of selected condensed phases in excellent agreement with previous DFT calculations and with experiments. We have used the newly developed force field to study the eucryptite phases in terms of their thermodynamic stability and their elastic properties. We have found that (a) these ReaxFF parameters predict the correct order of stability of the three crystalline polymorphs of eucryptite, α, β and γ, and (b) that upon indentation, a new phase appears at applied pressures ⩾7 GPa. The high-pressure phase obtained upon indentation is amorphous, as illustrated by the radial distribution functions calculated for different pairs of elements. In terms of elastic properties analysis, we have determined the elements of the stiffness tensor for α- and β-eucryptite at the level of ReaxFF, and discussed the elastic anisotropy of these two polymorphs. Polycrystalline average properties of these eucryptite phases are also reported to serve as ReaxFF predictions of their elastic moduli (in the case of α-eucryptite), or as tests against values known from experiments or DFT calculations (β-eucrypite). The ReaxFF potential reported here can also describe well single-species systems (e.g. Li-metal, Al-metal and condensed phases of silicon), which makes it suitable for investigating structure and properties of suboxides, atomic-scale mechanisms responsible for phase transformations, as well as oxidation–reduction reactions.

Development of a Transferable Reactive Force Field for Cobalt

ReaxFF provides a method to describe bond-breaking and bond-forming events that can be applied to large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. This article describes the development of a ReaxFF potential for cobalt. This potential is transferable to a wide variety of cobalt systems, including various crystal structures, surfaces, clusters, and defects. The potential parameters were obtained from an extensive set of ab initio calculations. We have tested these parameters against additional DFT calculations not included in the fitting data set and found that ReaxFF provides similar or superior agreement with the DFT results compared to accepted embedded atom method descriptions for Co. We validated this potential by performing large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to predict the melting point, diffusion coefficients for the liquid as a function of temperature, and vacancy-mediated diffusion coefficients in the solid as a function of temperature and vacancy concentration. Results are compared with other theoretical methods and experiments where available. Since the ReaxFF method allows straightforward extensions to alloys and heterogeneous materials, including first-row elements, the ReaxFF parameters described here provide a foundation for the simulation of a wide range of Co-containing materials.

ReaxFF Reactive Force Field Development and Applications for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Ammonia Borane Dehydrogenation and Combustion

Ammonia borane (AB) has attracted significant attention due to its high hydrogen content (19.6% by mass). To investigate the reaction mechanism associated with the combustion of AB, a reactive force field (ReaxFF) has been developed for use in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The ReaxFF parameters have been derived directly from quantum mechanical data (QM). NVT-MD simulations of single- and polymolecular AB thermolysis were conducted in order to validate the force field. The release of the first equivalent H(2) is a unimolecular reaction, and MD simulations show an activation energy of 26.36 kcal mol(-1), which is in good agreement with experimental results. The release of the second H(2) is also a unimolecular reaction; however, the release of a third H(2) requires the formation of a B-N polymer. Similar simulations were conducted with a boron and oxygen system, since the oxidation of boron will be an integral step in AB combustion, and show good agreement with the established mechanism for this system. At low temperatures, boron atoms agglomerate into a cluster, which is oxidized at higher temperatures, eventually forming condensed and gas phase boron-oxide-species. These MD results provide confidence that ReaxFF can properly model the oxidation of AB and provide mechanistic insight into the AB dehydrogenation and combustion reactions.

Development and Validation of ReaxFF Reactive Force Field for Hydrocarbon Chemistry Catalyzed by Nickel

To enable the study of hydrocarbon reactions catalyzed by nickel surfaces and particles using reactive molecular dynamics on thousands of atoms as a function of temperature and pressure, we have developed the ReaxFF reactive force field to describe adsorption, decomposition, reformation and desorption of hydrocarbons as they interact with the nickel surface. The ReaxFF parameters were determined by fitting to the geometries and energy surfaces from quantum mechanics (QM) calculations for a large number of reaction pathways for hydrocarbon molecules chemisorbed onto nickel (111), (100) and (110) surfaces, supplemented with QM equations of state for nickel and nickel carbides. We demonstrate the validity and accuracy of ReaxFF by applying it to study the reaction dynamics of hydrocarbons as catalyzed by nickel particles and surfaces. For the dissociation of methyl on the (111), (100), and stepped (111) surfaces of nickel, we observe the formation of chemisorbed CH plus subsurface carbide. We observe that th...