The Electron-Density Distribution of UCl and Its Topology from X-ray Diffraction.

The chemistry of electrons in actinide complexes and materials is still poorly understood and represents a serious challenge and opportunity for experiment and theory. The study of the electron density distribution of the ground state of such systems through X-ray diffraction represents a unique opportunity to quantitatively investigate different chemical bonding interactions at once, but was considered "almost impossible" on heavy-atom systems, until very recently. Here, we present a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the electron density distribution in UCL crystals and comparison with the previously reported spin density distribution from polarized neutron diffraction.

Path ahead: Tackling the Challenge of Computationally Estimating Lithium Diffusion in Cathode Materials.

In the roadmap toward designing new and improved materials for Lithium ion batteries, the ability to estimate the diffusion coefficient of Li atoms in electrodes, and eventually solid-state electrolytes, is key. Nevertheless, as of today, accurate prediction through computational tools remains challenging. Its experimental measurement does not appear to be much easier.

Born-Oppenheimer Molecular Dynamics with a Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals and Hybrid Functionals for Condensed Matter Simulations Made Possible. Theory and Performance for the Microcanonical and Canonical Ensembles.

The implementation of an original Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics module is presented, which is able to perform simulations of large and complex condensed phase systems for sufficiently long time scales at the level of density functional theory with hybrid functionals, in the microcanonical (NVE) and canonical (NVT) ensembles. The algorithm is fully integrated in the Crystal code, a program for quantum mechanical simulations of materials, whose peculiarity stems from the use of atom-centered basis functions within a linear combination of atomic orbitals to describe the wave function. The corresponding efficiency in the evaluation of the exact Fock exchange series has led to the implementation of a rich variety of hybrid density functionals at a low computational cost.

Crucial Role of Ni Point Defects and Sb Doping for Tailoring the Thermoelectric Properties of ZrNiSn Half-Heusler Alloy: An Ab Initio Study.

In the wide group of thermoelectric compounds, the half-Heusler ZrNiSn alloy is one of the most promising materials thanks to its thermal stability and narrow band gap, which open it to the possibility of mid-temperature applications. A large variety of defects and doping can be introduced in the ZrNiSn crystalline structure, thus allowing researchers to tune the electronic band structure and enhance the thermoelectric performance. Within this picture, theoretical studies of the electronic properties of perfect and defective ZrNiSn structures can help with the comprehension of the relation between the topology of defects and the thermoelectric features.

Stability and Formation of the LiPS/Li, LiPS/LiS, and LiS/Li Interfaces: A Theoretical Study.

Solid electrolytes have shown superior behavior and many advantages over liquid electrolytes, including simplicity in battery design. However, some chemical and structural instability problems arise when solid electrolytes form a direct interface with the negative Li-metal electrode. In particular, it was recognized that the interface between the β-LiPS crystal and lithium anode is quite unstable and tends to promote structural defects that inhibit the correct functioning of the device.

Combined DFT-D3 Computational and Experimental Studies on g-CN: New Insight into Structure, Optical, and Vibrational Properties.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) has emerged as one of the most promising solar-light-activated polymeric metal-free semiconductor photocatalysts due to its thermal physicochemical stability but also its characteristics of environmentally friendly and sustainable material. Despite the challenging properties of g-CN, its photocatalytic performance is still limited by the low surface area, together with the fast charge recombination phenomena. Hence, many efforts have been focused on overcoming these drawbacks by controlling and improving the synthesis methods.

Experimental and computational study of the role of defects and secondary phases on the thermoelectric properties of TiNiSn (0 ≤≤ 0.12) half Heusler compounds.

The half Heusler TiNiSn compound is a model system for understanding the relationship among structural, electronic, microstructural and thermoelectric properties. However, the role of defects that deviate from the ideal crystal structure is far from being fully described. In this work, TiNiSn alloys (= 0, 0.

CRYSTAL23: A Program for Computational Solid State Physics and Chemistry.

The Crystal program for quantum-mechanical simulations of materials has been bridging the realm of molecular quantum chemistry to the realm of solid state physics for many years, since its first public version released back in 1988. This peculiarity stems from the use of atom-centered basis functions within a linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) approach and from the corresponding efficiency in the evaluation of the exact Fock exchange series. In particular, this has led to the implementation of a rich variety of hybrid density functional approximations since 1998.

Modeling of BN-Doped Carbon Nanotube as High-Performance Thermoelectric Materials.

Ternary BNC nanotubes were modeled and characterized through a periodic density functional theory approach with the aim of investigating the influence on the structural, electronic, mechanical, and transport properties of the quantity and pattern of doping. The main energy band gap is easily tunable as a function of the BN percentage, the mechanical stability is generally preserved, and an interesting piezoelectric character emerges in the BNC structures. Moreover, C@(BN)C double-wall presents promising values of the thermoelectric coefficients due to the combined lowering of the thermal conductivity and increase of charge carriers.

From symmetry breaking in the bulk to phase transitions at the surface: a quantum-mechanical exploration of LiPSCl argyrodite superionic conductor.

Lithium superionic conductor electrolytes may enable the safe use of metallic lithium anodes in all-solid-state batteries. The key to a successful application is a high Li conductivity in the electrolyte material, to be achieved through the maintenance of intimate contact with the electrodes and the knowledge of the chemical nature of that contact. In this manuscript, we tackle this issue by a theoretical approach.

Computational Characterization of β-LiPS Solid Electrolyte: From Bulk and Surfaces to Nanocrystals.

The all-solid-state lithium-ion battery is a new class of batteries being developed following today's demand for renewable energy storage, especially for electric cars. The key component of such batteries is the solid-state electrolyte, a technology that promises increased safety and energy density with respect to the traditional liquid electrolytes. In this view, β-LiPS is emerging as a good solid-state electrolyte candidate due to its stability and ionic conductivity.

Topology of the Electron Density and of Its Laplacian from Periodic LCAO Calculations on -Electron Materials: The Case of Cesium Uranyl Chloride.

The chemistry of -electrons in lanthanide and actinide materials is yet to be fully rationalized. Quantum-mechanical simulations can provide useful complementary insight to that obtained from experiments. The quantum theory of atoms in molecules and crystals (QTAIMAC), through thorough topological analysis of the electron density (often complemented by that of its Laplacian) constitutes a general and robust theoretical framework to analyze chemical bonding features from a computed wave function.

Ab Initio Modeling of MultiWall: A General Algorithm First Applied to Carbon Nanotubes.

A general, versatile and automated computational algorithm to design any type of multiwall nanotubes of any chiralities is presented for the first time. It can be applied to rolling up surfaces obtained from cubic, hexagonal, and orthorhombic lattices. Full exploitation of the helical symmetry permits a drastic reduction of the computational cost and therefore opens to the study of realistic systems.

Charge Density Analysis of Actinide Compounds from the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules and Crystals.

The nature of chemical bonding in actinide compounds (molecular complexes and materials) remains elusive in many respects. A thorough analysis of their electron charge distribution can prove decisive in elucidating bonding trends and oxidation states along the series. However, the accurate determination and robust analysis of the charge density of actinide compounds pose several challenges from both experimental and theoretical perspectives.

A quantum-mechanical investigation of oxygen vacancies and copper doping in the orthorhombic CaSnO perovskite.

In this study we explore the implications of oxygen vacancy formation and of copper doping in the orthorhombic CaSnO3 perovskite, by means of density functional theory, focusing on energetic and electronic properties. In particular, the electronic charge distribution is analyzed by Mulliken, Hirshfeld-I, Bader and Wannier approaches. Calculations are performed at the PBE and the PBE0 level (for doping with Cu, only PBE0), with both spin-restricted and spin-unrestricted formulations; unrestricted calculations are used for spin-polarized cases and for the naturally open-shell cases (Cu doping).

Calibration of ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer constants by first principles.

Electron density and eigenvalues of the 3 × 3 matrix of the electric field gradients at the (57)Fe nuclei positions have been evaluated with the periodic ab initio CRYSTAL code for a wide range of crystalline compounds, adopting different computational approaches (Hartree-Fock, gradient corrected and hybrids functionals). The robust calibration procedure, involving experimental isomer shifts and quadrupolar splittings, yields reliable Mössbauer parameters, i.e.

Electron density analysis of large (molecular and periodic) systems: A parallel implementation.

A parallel implementation is presented of a series of algorithms for the evaluation of several one-electron properties of large molecular and periodic (of any dimensionality) systems. The electron charge and momentum densities of the system, the electrostatic potential, X-ray structure factors, directional Compton profiles can be effectively evaluated at low computational cost along with a full topological analysis of the electron charge density (ECD) of the system according to Bader's quantum theory of atoms in molecules. The speedup of the parallelization of the different algorithms is presented.

Diffraction of helium on MgO(100) surface calculated from first-principles.

In this work we simulate the diffraction peak intensities of He beams scattered on the MgO(100) surface from first principles. It turns out that diffraction peak intensities are extremely sensitive to the quality of the potential describing the He-MgO surface interaction. Achieving the required accuracy in first principles calculations is very challenging indeed.

CRYSCOR: a program for the post-Hartree-Fock treatment of periodic systems.

Cryscor is a periodic post-Hartree-Fock program based on local functions in direct space, i.e., Wannier functions and projected atomic orbitals.

Periodic local-MP2 computational study of crystalline neon.

Face-centered-cubic crystalline Neon is taken as a test system to explore the influence of computational parameters on the quality of the MP2 solution provided by the Cryscor program using a local-correlation approach. The effect of the various approximations adopted is analyzed: basis set limitations, finite size of excitation domains, truncation of the tails of the local functions, approximate evaluation of two-electron integrals, estimate (by extrapolation) of long-range contributions are shown to play roles of different importance. The Ne2 dimer is used as an auxiliary test case in order to allow comparison with recent and accurate literature data.

Periodic density functional theory and local-MP2 study of the librational modes of Ice XI.

Two periodic codes, CRYSTAL and CRYSCOR, are here used to simulate and characterize the librational modes of the nu(R) band of Ice XI: this band has been found experimentally to be the region of the vibrational spectrum of ordinary ice most affected by the transition from the proton-disordered (Ice Ih) to the proton-ordered (Ice XI) phase. With CRYSTAL, the problem is solved using Hartree-Fock (HF), pure Kohn-Sham (PW91) or hybrid (B3LYP) one-electron Hamiltonians: the harmonic approximation is employed to obtain the vibrational spectrum after optimizing the geometry. The B3LYP results are those in best agreement with the experiment.

DFT and local-MP2 periodic study of the structure and stability of two proton-ordered polymorphs of ice.

The equilibrium geometry and the formation energy of two periodic polymorphs of Ice have been theoretically studied: the former (Ice XI, crystal group Cmc2(1)) is experimentally observed as the most stable structure at low temperature and pressure; the latter (crystal group Pna2(1)) is the simplest proton-ordered model of ordinary ice. With the Crystal code, the problem is solved using Hartree-Fock (HF), pure Kohn-Sham (PW91), or hybrid (B3LYP) one-electron Hamiltonians. The B3LYP results are those in best agreement with the experiment.

Periodic local MP2 method for the study of electronic correlation in crystals: Theory and preliminary applications.

A computational technique for solving the MP2 equations for periodic systems using a local-correlation approach and implemented in the CRYSCOR code is presented. The Hartree-Fock solution provided by the CRYSTAL program is used as a reference. The motivations for the implementation of the new code are discussed, and the techniques adopted are briefly recalled.

Oxide/metal interface distance and epitaxial strain in the NiO/Ag(001) system.

Geometric parameters of NiO films epitaxially grown on Ag(001) were determined using two independent experimental techniques and ab initio simulations. Primary beam diffraction modulated electron emission experiments determined that the NiO films grow with O on top of Ag and that the oxide/metal interface distance is d=2.3+/-0.