Modeling bulk and surface Pt using the "Gaussian and plane wave" density functional theory formalism: validation and comparison to k-point plane wave calculations.

We present a study on structural and electronic properties of bulk platinum and the two surfaces (111) and (100) comparing the Gaussian and plane wave method to standard plane wave schemes, normally employed for density functional theory calculations on metallic systems. The aim of this investigation is the assessment of methods based on the expansion of the Kohn-Sham orbitals into localized basis sets and on the supercell approach, in the description of the metallicity of Pt. Electronic structure calculations performed at Gamma-point only on supercells of different sizes, from 108 up to 864 atoms, are compared to the results obtained for the unit cell of four Pt atoms where the k-point expansion of the wave function over Monkhorst-Pack grids up to (10x10x10) has been employed. The evaluation of the two approaches with respect to bulk properties is done through the calculation of the equilibrium lattice constant, the bulk modulus, and the total and the d-projected density of states. For the Pt(111) and Pt(100) surfaces, we consider the relaxation of the first layers, the surface energies, the work function, the total density of states, as well as the center and filling of the d bands. Our results confirm that the accuracy of two approaches in the description of electronic and structural properties of Pt is equivalent, providing that consistent supercells and k-point meshes are used. Moreover, we estimate the supercell size that can be safely adopted in the Gaussian and plane wave method in order to obtain the same reliability of previous theoretical studies based on well converged plane wave calculations available in literature. The latter studies, in turn, set the level of agreement with experimental data. In particular, we obtain excellent agreement in the evaluation of the density of states for either bulk and surface systems, and our data are also in good agreement with previous works on Pt reported in literature. We conclude that Gaussian and plane wave calculations, with simulation cells of 400-800 atoms, can be safely used in the study of chemistry related problems involving transition metal surfaces.