Filter function of graphene oxide: Trapping perfluorinated molecules

We need clean drinking water, but current water purification methods are not always sufficient. This study examines the binding and binding mechanisms when graphene oxide is used as a filter material for removing perfluorinated substances and trihalomethanes. We use density functional theory calculations to examine the binding of the harmful molecules on graphene oxide. Our results indicate that the binding energies between graphene oxide and the investigated molecules are in the range of 370-1450 meV per molecule, similar to the binding energies obtained in other studies, where adsorption of similar size molecules onto graphene oxide has been investigated. This indicates that graphene oxide has the potential to separate the molecules of interest from the water. Significant contribution to the binding energies comes from the van der Waals (dispersion) interaction between the molecule and graphene oxide, while the hydrogen bonding between the functional groups of graphene oxide and the hydrogen atoms in functional groups on the molecules also plays a role in the binding

Accurate Nonempirical Range-Separated Hybrid van der Waals Density Functional for Complex Molecular Problems, Solids, and Surfaces

We introduce a new, general-purpose, range-separated hybrid van der Waals density functional termed vdW-DF2-ahbr within the nonempirical vdW-DF method [Hyldgaard, et al. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 32, 393001 (2020)]. It combines a correlation from vdW-DF2 with a screened Fock exchange that is fixed by a new model of exchange effects in the density-explicit vdW-DF-b86r or rev-vdW-DF2 functional [Hamada, Phys. Rev. B 89, 121103(R) (2014)]. The new vdW-DF2-ahbr prevents spurious exchange binding and has a small-density-gradient form set from many-body perturbation analysis. It is accurate for bulk as well as layered materials, and it systematically and significantly improves the performance of the present vdW-DFs for molecular problems. Importantly, vdW-DF2-ahbr also outperforms present-standard (dispersion-corrected) range-separated hybrids on a broad collection of noncovalent-interaction benchmark sets, while at the same time successfully mitigating the density-driven errors that often affect the description of molecular transition states and isomerization calculations. vdW-DF2-ahbr furthermore improves on state-of-the-art density-functional-theory approaches by succeeding at challenging problems. For example, it (1) correctly predicts both the substrate structure and the site preference for CO adsorption on Pt(111), (2) it outperforms existing nonempirical vdW-DFs for the description of CO2 adsorption in both a functionalized and in a simple metal-organic framework, and (3) it is highly accurate for the set of base-pair interactions in a model of DNA assembly

Ab initio investigation of monoclinic phase stability and martensitic transformation in crystalline polyethylene

We study the phase stability and martensitic transformation of orthorhombic and monoclimic polyethylene by means of density functional theory using the nonempirical consistent-exchange vdW-DF-cx functional [Phys. Rev. B 89, 035412 (2014)]. The results show that the orthorhombic phase is the most stable of the two. Owing to the occurrence of soft librational phonon modes, the monoclimic phase is predicted not to be stable at zero pressure and temperature, but becomes stable when subjected to compressive transverse deformations that pin the chains and prevent them from wiggling freely. This theoretical characterization, or prediction, is consistent with the fact that the monoclimic phase is only observed experimentally when the material is subjected to mechanical loading. Also, the estimated threshold energy for the combination of lattice deformation associated with the T1 and T2 transformation paths (between the orthorhombic and monoclimic phases) and chain shuffling is found to be sufficiently low for thermally activated back transformations to occur. Thus, our prediction is that the crystalline part can transform back from the monoclimc to the orthorhombic phase upon unloading and/or annealing, which is consistent with experimental observations. Finally, we observe how a combination of such phase transformations can lead to a fold-plane reorientation from {110} to {100} type in a single orthorhombic crystal

Adsorption of Methanol on Aluminum Oxide: A Density Functional Study

Theoretical calculations based on density functional theory have made significant contributions to our understanding of metal oxides, their surfaces, and the binding of molecules at these surfaces. In this paper we investigate the binding of methanol at the alpha-Al2O3(0001) surface using first-principles density functional theory. We calculate the molecular adsorption energy of methanol to be E^g_ads=1.03 eV/molecule. Taking the methanol-methanol interaction into account, we obtain the adsorption energy E_ads=1.01 eV/molecule. Our calculations indicate that methanol adsorbs chemically by donating electron charge from the methanol oxygen to the surface aluminum. We find that the surface atomic structure changes upon adsorption, most notably the spacing between the outermost Al and O layers changes from 0.11 Angstrom to 0.33 Angstrom

Methylbenzenes on graphene

We present a theory study of the physisorption of the series of methylbenzenes (toluene, xylene and mesitylene), as well as benzene, on graphene. The aim is two fold: we provide data that will be used as input to larger-scale methods like molecular-dynamics simulations, and at the same time we enhance the basic understanding of graphene used as a material for sensors and as an idealized model for the carbon in active carbon filters. The molecules are studied in a number of positions and orientations relative to graphene, using density functional theory with the van der Waals functional vdW-DF. The molecules are adsorbed fractional coverage. We focus on the vdW-DF1 and vdW-DF-cx functionals, and find that the binding energy of the molecules on graphene grows linearly with the number of methyl groups, at the rate of 0.09 eV (vdW-DF1) to 0.11 eV (vdW-DF-cx) per added methyl group. We further find that the orientation of the methyl groups of the molecules relative to graphene is at least as important as the lateral position of the whole molecule on graphene. \ua9 2017 Elsevier B.V