Organic molecules are known for their stability due to aromaticity. Superhalogens, on the other hand, are highly reactive anions, whose electron affinity is larger than that of chlorine. This thesis, using first principles calculations, explores possible methods for creation of superhalogen aromatic molecules while attempting to also develop a fundamental understanding of the physical properties behind their creation. The first method studied uses anionic cyclopentadienyl and enhances its electron affinity through ligand substitution or ring annulation in combination with core substitutions. The second method studies the possibilities of using benzene, which has a negative electron affinity (EA), as a core to attain similar results. These cases resulted in EAs of 5.59 eV and 5.87 eV respectively, showing that aromaticity rule can be used to create strong anionic organic molecules. These studies will hopefully lead to new advances in the development of organic based technology.

Theoretical investigation of the structure and stability of neutral and cationic TixOy cluster series (where y =2x-1, 2x, 2x+1) have been performed. The lowest lying structures for the neutral clusters are usually found in the singlet state. Generally, in bulk and in the case of the neutral TixOy clusters, the 2x cluster series is relatively more abundant than the 2x-1 and the 2x+1 cluster series. But in the case of cationic TixOy clusters, the 2x-1 series is more abundant. To understand the origin of the stability of the TixO2x-1+ clusters, we use density functional theory within the NRLMOL set of codes. Different analyzing factors such as ionization potential, TiO2 removal energy, oxygen removal energy, binding energy per atom and HOMO-LUMO gap have been used to examine the relative stability of TixO2x-1+ clusters. After analyzing the above criteria, we find that the ionization potential and HOMO-LUMO gap are more reliable, as the low ionization potential of the 2x-1 series generally implies low HOMO-LUMO gap and suggests that the 2x-1 cluster series more likely prefer to remain as cations. To further confirm this, we examine the density of states of Ti3O5 and Ti3O6 which show a larger HOMO- HOMO-1 gap in case of Ti3O5, indicating that the cluster would like to lose an electron for enhancing electronic stability.

Despite over 100 years of scientific research, a full understanding of superconductivity remains elusive. While it is known that the electron-phonon interaction is responsible for the formation of Cooper pairs in conventional superconductors, many superconductors exhibit behaviour suggestive of more exotic pairing mechanisms. In this thesis, two novel superconducting materials are considered, monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide, MoS₂, and iron-based superconductor, LaFeAsO_1−xF_x. The former is ideal for the study of the electron-phonon interaction, as it not only has potential applications as an atomically thin transistor, but also displays a dome-shaped superconductive state as a function of electron doping. In the latter, the superconductive state emerges from a magnetic parent compound upon flourine doping. Its high critical temperature is thought to be enhanced by magnetic fluctuation rather than being purely phonon-mediated. By using novel first-principles techniques, the electron-phonon interaction in electron doped single-layer MoS₂ is investigated. The superconducting gap is calculated using the Migdal-Eliashberg theory, and by considering the electronic structure and lattice dynamics in this material, an explanation is provided for the experimentally observed doping-dependent critical temperature in this material. The origin of the doping-induced transition from a magnetic phase to a nonmagnetic phase in LaFeAsO_1−xF_x is determined. A new model to capture the effects of the fluorine dopants is developed, which has implications for the electron-phonon interaction in this material.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Christine M. Aikens / Small silver and gold clusters (less than 2 nm) display a discrete absorption spectrum characteristic of molecular systems whereas larger particles display a strong, broad absorption band in the visible. The latter feature is due to the surface plasmon resonance, which is commonly explained by the collective dipolar motion of free electrons across the particle, creating charged surface states. The evolution between molecular properties and plasmon is investigated. Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations are performed to study the absorption spectrum of cluster-size silver and gold nanorods. The absorption spectrum of these silver nanorods exhibits high-intensity longitudinal and transverse modes (along the long and short axis of the nanorod respectively), similar to the plasmons observed experimentally for larger nanoparticles. These plasmon modes result from a constructive addition of the dipole moments of nearly degenerate single-particle excitations. The number of single-particle transitions involved increases with increasing system size, due to the growing density of states available. Gold nanorods exhibit a broader absorption spectrum than their silver counterpart due to enhanced relativistic effects, affecting the onset of the longitudinal plasmon mode. The high-energy, high-intensity beta-peak of acenes also results from a constructive addition of single-particle transitions and I show that it can be assigned to a plasmon. I also show that the plasmon modes of both acenes and metallic nanoparticles can be described with a simple configuration interaction (CI) interpretation. The evolution between molecular absorption spectrum and plasmon is also investigated by computing the density of states of spherical thiolate-protected gold clusters using a charge-perturbed particle-in-a-sphere model. The electronic structure obtained with this model gives good qualitative agreement with DFT calculations at a fraction of the cost. The progressive increase of the density of states with particle size observed is in accordance with the appearance of a plasmon peak. The optical properties of nanoparticles can be tuned by varying their composition. Therefore, the optical behavior of the bimetallic Au[subscript](25-n)Ag[subscript]n(SH)[subscript]18[superscript]- cluster for different values of n using TDDFT is analyzed. A large blue shift of the HOMO-LUMO absorption peak is observed with increasing silver content, in accordance with experimental results.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Chemistry / Christine M. Aikens / Water oxidation can be considered as the ‘holy grail’ of renewable energy research, where water is split into constituent molecular hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is a very efficient energy source that is both clean and sustainable. The byproduct of hydrogen combustion is water, which in turn can be reused as the source for hydrogen generation. Natural water splitting is observed during photosynthesis in the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II, which consists of a CaMn₄O₄ cubane core. Herein, we report in silico approaches to understand bottom up catalytic design of model transition metal oxide complexes for water splitting. We have employed density functional theory to investigate model ligand-free architectures of cobalt and manganese oxide dimer (Mn₂(μ-OH)(μ-O)(H₂O)₃(OH)₅, Mn₂(μ-OH)₂(H₂O)₄(OH)₄, Mn₂(μ-OH)₂(H₂O)₂(OH)₂(O(CH)₃O)₂, Co₂(μ-OH)₂(H₂O)₄(OH)₄ and cubane (Co₄O₄(H₂O)₈(OH)₄, Mn₄O₄(H₂O)[subscript]x(OH)[subscript]y x = 4-8, y = 8-4) complexes. The thermodynamically lowest energy pathway on the cobalt dimer catalyst proceeds through a nucleophilic attack of a solvent water molecule to a Co(V)-O radical moiety whereas the pathway on the cubane catalyst involves a geminal coupling of a Co(V)-O radical oxo group with bridging oxo sites. The lowest energy pathway for the fully saturated Mn₂O₄•6H₂O (Mn₂(μ-OH)(μ-O)(H₂O)₃(OH)₅) and Mn₂O₃•7H₂O (Mn₂(μ-OH)₂(H₂O)₄(OH)₄) complexes occur through a nucleophilic attack of a solvent water molecule to Mn(IV½)O and Mn(V)O oxo moieties respectively. Out of all the oxidation state configurations studied for the manganese cubane, we observed that Mn₄(IV IV IV IV), Mn₄(III IV IV IV), and Mn₄(III III IV V) configurations are thermodynamically viable for water oxidation. All three of these reaction pathways proceed via nucleophilic attack of solvent water molecule to the manganese oxo species. The highest thermodynamic energy step in manganese dimer and cubane complexes corresponds to the formation of the manganese oxo species, which is a significant feature that reoccurred in all these reaction pathways. We have also employed multireference and multiconfigurational calculations to investigate the Mn₂(μ-OH)₂(H₂O)₂(OH)₂(O(CH)₃O)₂ system. The presence of Mn(IV)O[superscript]• radical moieties has been observed in this catalytic pathway. These simplest models of cobalt and manganese with water-derived ligands are essential to understand microscopic properties that can be used as descriptors in designing future catalysts.

This thesis is concerned with the muon-spin relaxation (musr) technique and its application in the study of a number of molecular magnetic systems that may be driven through a quantum phase transition at low temperatures through the application of a magnetic field or hydrostatic pressure. Musr is a highly sensitive probe of magnetism, but its utility can be severely limited by the lack of knowledge of the muon implantation site and the extent to which the muon perturbs its host. In a system of ionic fluorides, where partial information about the muon site is experimentally available, I demonstrate systematically that these problems can be addressed accurately using electronic-structure calculations. The F--$mu$--F complex formed by muons in many fluorides can be understood as an exotic molecule-in-a-crystal defect with a zero-point energy larger than that of any naturally-occurring triatomic molecule. I demonstrate the interesting possibility of controlling the magnetic dimensionality in a molecular magnet using applied pressure. musr and high-field magnetisation experiments under applied pressure on the coordination polymer CuF$_2$(H$_2$O)$_2$(pyrazine) show a transition from a quasi-two-dimensional to a quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnetic phase. Density-functional theory calculations and calculations of the dipolar anisotropy complement the experiments. I describe how subtle differences in chemical composition can lead to starkly different structural and magnetic properties. [Cu(pyz)(H$_2$O)(gly)$_2$](ClO$_4$)$_2$ may be considered an antiferromagnetic chain that orders below 50 mK while the related compound [Cu(pyz)(gly)](ClO$_4$) is formed from Cu$^{2+}$ dimers and remains disordered down to 30 mK in zero field, but displays a field-temperature phase diagram consistent with the Bose-Einstein condensation of triplons. I also describe musr measurements on the strong-leg spin ladder DIMPY and on the molecular nanomagnets Cr$_8$Cd and Cr$_8$Mn which highlight some of the remaining challenges for longitudinal-field musr experiments.

When molecules are excited by photons or energetic particles, they will cool through the emission of photons, electrons, or by fragmenting. Such processes are often thermal as they occur after the excitation energy has been redistributed across all degrees-of-freedom in the system. Collisions with atoms or ions may also lead to ultrafast fragmentation in Rutherford-like scattering processes, where one or several atoms can literally be knocked out of the molecule by the incoming projectile before the energy can be completely redistributed. The resulting fragmentation pathways can in such knockout processes be very different from those in thermal processes. This thesis covers extensive studies of collisions between ions/atoms and isolated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, isolated fullerene molecules, or clusters of these. The high stabilities and distinct fragmentation channels make these types of molecules excellent test cases for characterizing knockout-driven fragmentation and the reactions that these processes can lead to. I will present experimental measurements for a wide range of energies and compare them with my own molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical calculations. In this thesis, I present an in-depth study of the role of knockout in the energetic processing of molecules and clusters. The competition between knockout and thermally driven fragmentation is discussed in detail. Knockout-driven fragmentation is shown to result in exotic fragments that are far more reactive than the intact parent molecules or fragments from thermal processes. When such reactive species are formed within molecular clusters efficient molecular growth can take place on sub-picosecond timescales. The cluster environments are crucial here because they protect the newly formed molecules by absorbing excess energy. This is a possible pathway for the growth of large PAHs, fullerenes, and similar carbonaceous complexes found in, for instance, the interstellar medium. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted.</p>

Nanoclusters de metais de transição (TM) com dimensões de &#126;1,0 nm têm atraído grande interesse em diversas aplicações tecnológicas, como microeletrônica, óptica, dispositivos magnéticos e principalmente como nanocatalisadores. Nesse contexto, a morfologia desses sistemas é um fator fundamental para otimzação de performace nessas aplicações, tendo em vista a relação direta entre as propriedades físico-químicas e a estrutura atômica do nanocluster determinada pelas condições do ambiente (temperatura e moléculas adsorvidas). No entanto, diante das limitações relativas à precisão das técnicas de caracterização experimental disponíveis atualmente, sobretudo em dimensões nanométricas, o uso de cálculos computacionais através de métodos de primeiros princípios (ab initio) e baseados na teoria do funcional da densidade se torna indispensável. Neste trabalho, foram investigados os efeitos de ligantes e temperaturas nas propriedades estruturais, eletrônicas, estabilidade e meta-estabilidade de nanoclusters de TM. (i) Os efeitos de ligantes de (PH3)n e (SH2)n (saturação gradativa em n = 1, 6, 12 e 18) adsorvidos em nanoclusters unários de Pt55 e Au55 com estruturas icosaédricas (ICO), cuboctaédricas (CUB) e desordenadas de core reduzido (DRC) foram estudados a 0K. Em fase gasosa, as estruturas DRC com 7 e 9 átomos na região do core são 5,34 eV (Pt55) e 2,20 eV (Au55) mais estáveis que modelo ICO com simetria Ih com 13 átomos no core. Os resultados mostraram que existe uma forte compressão do core catiônico pela superfície aniônica induzida por interações de Coulomb (core+-superfície-), levando ao colapso e redução de estresse das estruturas simétricas a partir da redução do número de átomos na região do core. No entanto, a estabilidade da estrutura ICO aumenta com o aumento do número de moléculas adsorvidas, de modo que DRC e ICO se tornam energeticamente degeneradas em < 0,5 eV. Além disso, a adição de ligantes na superfície aniônica reduz a transferência de cargas entre as regiões de core+-superfície-, contribuindo para a redução das interações de Coulomb e, consequentemente, aliviando o estresse interno da estrutura ICO. Resultados similares foram obtidos utilizando ligantes de trifenilfosfina (PPh3), nos quais as longas cadeias carbônicas adicionam interações laterais entre os ligantes. (ii) Nanoclusters de binários de PtnCo(55 - n) a 0K mostraram alta estabilidade em todo intervalo de composições, indicando uma correlação direta entre estabilidade e distribuição homogênea de átomos de Pt e Co formando a nanoliga com estrutura ICO. No entanto, sob uma atmosfera saturada de ligantes de CO adsorvidos, a estabilidade da nanoliga diminui (aumenta) para composições com grandes quantidades de Pt (Co). As análises mostraram que sob os efeitos da adsorção as composições permanecem com configuração ICO, exceto para Pt42Co13 (estrutura core@shell do tipo Co@Pt em fase gasosa), onde as moléculas de CO deslocam os átomos de Co para a superfície, e, então, induzindo um processo de amorfização na formação de uma estrutura formada com átomos de Pt ocupando o core. Para investigar os efeitos de temperatura na estabilidade e meta-estabilidade de nanoclusters e clusters de Au utilizando dinâmica molecular de Born-Oppenheimer, foram utilizados nanoclusters de tamanho médio de Au25, Au38 e Au40 em fase gasosa e clusters de Au13 sob diferentes atmosferas saturadas de CO. (iii) Observou-se que em temperaturas de 300, 400, 500 e 600 K os nanoclusters exibem estruturas dinâmicas para as regiões de core-superfície, com core tetraédrico (4 átomos) ou T-bipiramidal (5 átomos) catiônicos fracamente ligados à superfície aniônica flexível. Uma abordagem estatística através de um algoritmo de redução de dimensionalidades para representação no espaço euclideano bidimensional, chamado de sketch-map, foi proposta como uma nova linguagem para analisar a superfície de energia livre (FES) dos sistemas calculada na aproximação de multistate Bennet acceptance-ratio. A FES foi utilizada como uma análise qualitativa das configurações estáveis e meta-estáveis sob os efeitos de temperaturas, indicando as regiões preferenciais do espaço configuracional de cada nanocluster investigado. (iv) Incluindo os efeitos de ligantes e temperaturas em clusters de Au13, foi observado que em altas temperaturas os clusters de Au13 em fase gasosa tendem a configurações mais abertas com menor comprimento de ligação com relação às estruturas tridimensionais. Por outro lado, a saturação do ambiente com ligantes de CO restringem a mobilidade dos átomos nos clusters de Au13, favorecendo a amostragem de estruturas tridimensionais mesmo em temperaturas relativamente altas. A análise de população de cargas mostrou uma alta concentração de elétrons nos átomos de O, de modo que o forte catiônico dos clusters de Au13 leva ao aumento da coordenação atômica, contribuindo para a estabilização das estruturas mais tridimensionais. / Transition metal nanoclusters (TM) with dimensions of &#126;1,0 nm have attracted great interest in various technological applications such as microelectronics, optics, magnetic devices and mainly as nanocatalysts. In this way, the morphology of these systems is a fundamental factor for optimization of performance in these applications, considering the direct relationship between the physicochemical properties and the atomic structure of the nanocluster determined by the ambient conditions (temperature and adsorbed molecules). In this sense, in view of the limitations on the precision of the experimental characterization techniques currently available, especially in nanometric dimensions, the use of computational calculations using first principles methods (ab initio) and based on the density functional theory is indispensable. Thus, in this work, the effects of binders and temperatures on the structural, electronic properties, stability and metastability of TM nanoclusters were investigated. (i) In this way, the (PH3)n and (SH2)n ligands effects with gradual saturation at n = 1, 6, 12 and 18 adsorbed onto nanoclusters Pt55 and Au55 with icosahedral (ICO), cuboctahedron (CUB), and distorted reduced core (DRC) structures were studied at 0K. In the gas phase, the DRC structures with 7 and 9 atoms in the core region are 5,34 eV (Pt55) and 2,20 eV (Au55) more stable than ICO model with symmetry Ih with 13 atoms in core. The results showed that there is a strong compression of the cationic core by the anionic surface induced by interactions of Coulomb (core+-surface-), leading to collapse and stress reduction of the symmetrical structures from the reduction of the number of atoms in the core region. However, the stability of the ICO structure increases with increasing Number of molecules adsorbed, so that DRC and ICO become approximately degenerated in energy in < 0,5 eV. In addition, ligands on the anionic surface reduces the transfer of charges between core+- surface-, contributing to the reduction of interactions of Coulomb and, consequently, alleviating the internal stress of the ICO. Similar result were obtained using triphenylphosphine (PPh3) as large ligands, in which the long carbon chains add side interactions between the ligands. (ii) PtnCo(55 - n) binares nanoclusters at 0K showed a high stability across the range of compositions, indicating a direct correlation between stability and homogeneous distribution of Pt and Co atoms forming the nanoalloys with ICO structure. However, under a saturated atmosphere of adsorbed CO ligands, the stability of the nanoaaloys decreases (increases) to compositions with large amounts of Pt (Co). Analyzes have shown that under the effects of adsorption the compositions remain with ICO configuration, except for Pt42Co13 (Co@Pt as core@shell in gas-phase), where Co molecules displace the Co atoms to the surface, and then inducing an amorphization process for a structure formed with Pt atoms occupying the core. To investigate the temperature effects on the stability and metastability of Au nanoclusters and clusters by using Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics, medium size nanoclusters of Au25, Au38, and Au40 were used in gas-phase and clusters of Au13 under different saturated atmospheres of CO. (iii) It has been observed that at temperatures of 300, 400, 500, and 600 K, the nanoclusters exhibit dynamic structures for the core-surface regions with cationic tetrahedral (4 atoms) or T-bipyramidal (5 atoms) cores weakly bound to the flexible anionic surface. A statistical approach using a dimensionality reduction algorithm for two-dimensional Euclidean space representation, called sketch-map, was proposed as a new language to analyze the free energy surface (FES) of the systems calculated on the approximation of multistate Bennet acceptance-ratio. The FES was used as a qualitative analysis of the stable and metastable configurations under the effect of temperature, indicating the preferred regions of the configurational space of each nanocluster investigated. (iv) By including the effects of ligands and temperatures on Au13 clusters, it was observed that at high temperatures the Au13 clusters in gas-phase tend to have more open configurations with less bond length relative to three-dimensional structures. On the other hand, the saturation of the environment with CO ligands restricts the mobility of the atoms in Au13 clusters, favoring the sampling of three-dimensional structures even at temperatures relatively high. The charge population analysis showed a high concentration of electrons in the O atoms, so that the strong cationic character of the Au13 clusters leads to increased atomic coordination, contributing to the stabilization of the more three-dimensional.

A aproximação da densidade local para a teoria do funcional da densidade tem, no passado, levado a resultados conflitantes para a dimerização de cadeias infinitas do trans-poliacetileno (trans-PA). Estes resultados variaram deste forte dimerização, próximo dos resultados experimentais, até fraca dimerização, ou até mesmo nenhuma dimerização. Desde que a aproximação da densidade local usualmente descreve transições de fase estruturais corretamente, esta situação insatisfatória no caso do trans-PA clama por uma investigação detalhada. Neste trabalho estudamos o problema descrevendo a molécula como um modelo de Hubbard-Peierls unidimensional. Estabelecemos uma teoria do funcional da densidade e construímos uma aproximação da densidade local para este modelo. Em acordo com os cálculos ab initio encontramos que este tipo de aproximação não descreve adequadamente a dimerização. Propomos então um Formalismo alternativo, baseado em funcionais da matriz-densidade. Neste formalismo a energia de troca-correlação é escrita como um funcional da densidade de carga (como no método tradicional) e do parâmetro de ordem para a transição. Desta maneira obtemos um tratamento aperfeiçoado para a fase dimerizada. Nossos resultados sugerem que uma descrição adequada de sistemas espacialmente correlacionados dentro da teoria do funcional da densidade requer uma nova classe de funcionais, que vai além da aproximação da densidade local por levar explicitamente em conta parâmetros de ordem espaciais de longo alcance. / The local-density approximation to density-functional theory has, in the past, lead to conflicting results for the dimerization of infinite trans-polyacetylene (trans-PA) chains. These results range from strong dimerization, close to the one observed experimentally, to weak dimerization, or even no dimerization at all. Since the local-density approximation usually describes structural phase transitions correctly, this unsatisfactory situation in the case of trans-PA calls for a detailed investigation. In this work we study the problem by describing the polyacetylene molecule as a one-dimensional Hubbard-Peierls model. We set up a density-functional theory for this model, and construct a local-density approximation. In agreement with the ab initio calculations we find that this type of approximation does not consistently describe the dimerization. We therefore propose an alternative formalism, based on density-matrix functionals. In this formalism the exchange-correlation energy is written as a functional of the charge density (as in the traditional method) and the order parameter for the dimerization transition. In this way we achieve an improved treatment of the dimerized phase. Our results suggest that a reliable description of spatially correlated systems within density-functional theory requires a new type of functionals, going beyond the local-density approximation by explicitly accounting for long-range spatial order.

A Teoria do funcional da Densidade (DFT) é muito empregada no estudo da densidade eletrônica e energia do estado fundamental de sistemas interagente de muitos elétrons. Uma de suas desvantagens é que, apesar de formalmente exata, a DFT depende de aproximações no funcional de troca e correlação Exc[n]. Uma de suas vantagens é a possibilidade de trabalhar com a conexão adiabática, que permite conectar explicitamente o sistema interagente de interesse com uma versão não-interagente de mesma densidade. Baseado em seu escopo esta dissertação tem como objetivo tratar da DFT no modelo de Hubbard unidimensional. Uma das vantagens em trabalhar com o Hubbard é a existência de uma solução formalmente exata para a energia do modelo homogêneo e unidimensional via ansatz de Bethe, tal solução serve de base para os nossos cálculos e resultados. Outra vantagem do modelo de Hubbard é a existência de um gap que aproximações usuais na DFT falham em reproduzir. Um de nossos resultados é calcular o gap de duas formas. Uma através da derivada da solução via ansatz de Bethe e outro é tratar o Hamiltoniano pela conexão adiabática, calcular o gap pelo potencial químico, este último calculado pelo ansatz de Bethe. Ao final comparamos a precisão dos métodos, apenas para descobrir que o método via potencial químico é mais preciso. Por último usamos a conexão adiabática e a aproximação de Hartree-Fock para teorizar um funcional híbrido no modelo de Hubbard unidimensional. / The Density Functional Theory (DFT) is a widely used in the study of electronic density and energy of the ground-state of interacting systems consisting of many electrons. One of its disadvantages is that, although it is formally exact, the DFT depends on approximations of the exchange-correlation functional Exc[n]. One of its advantages consists of the possibility of working with the adiabatic connection, which allows a explicit connection between the interacting system of our interest and a non-interacting system that yields the same density. Based on its scope this dissertation aims to address the DFT in the one-dimensional Hubbard model. One of the Hubbards model advantage consists of the existence of a formally exact solution to the energy of the homogeneous one-dimensional model via Bethe ansatz, such a solution serves as the basis for our calculations and results. Anothe Hubbards model advantage is the existence of a gap that usual approximations in DFT fail to calculate. One of our results is to calculate the gap in two different ways. One through the derivative of the Bethe ansatz solution and the other is to address the Hamiltonian through the adiabatic connection, calculate the gap through the chemical potential, the latter calculated via Bethe ansatz. In the end we compare their precisions, only to find that the one via chemical potential is more precise. At last we use the adiabatic connection and the Hartree-Fock approximation to theorize a hybrid functional in the one-dimensional Hubbard model.