N2O dissociation on small Rh clusters: A density functional study Article uri icon

abstract

  • Density functional theory calculations are performed on Rh1-6 clusters to study N2O adsorption and dissociation as a model for the N2O decomposition reaction. For Rh1-6N2O clusters the molecular precursor adsorptions are found to occur at the bridge sites and on certain top sites. For all clusters, N2O decomposition initiated by N-O bond breaking is more favorable to form N2 and O as the final products. Dissociative adsorptions are energetically prefered for Rh1-6N2O clusters and the adsorption energy increases with cluster size. The N2O dissociation process involves a small barrier for Rh1-4 clusters, and it is found barrierless, for dissociations on Rh5-6 clusters. The relevant magnetic moments of the Rh1-6 clusters interacting with N2O are discussed. For comparison when going to larger clusters, we have also calculated the N2O dissociation taking place on the Rh(1 1 1) surface. We found that both on the Rh clusters as well as on the Rh(1 1 1) surface the N2O catalytic dissociation is possible. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • 2015-01-01