Thermoelectric materials play an important role in energy conversion as they represent environmentally safe and solid state devices with a great potential towards enhancing their efficiency. The ability to generate electric power in a reliable way without using non-renewable resources motivates many experimentalists as well as computational physicists to search and design new thermoelectric materials. Several classes of materials have been identified as good candidates for high efficient thermoelectrics because of their inherently low thermal conductivity. The complex study of the crystal and electronic structures of such materials helps to reveal hidden properties and give fundamental understanding, necessary for the development of a new generation of thermoelectrics. In the current thesis, ab-initio computational methods along with experimental observations are applied to investigate several material classes suitable for thermoelectric applications. One example are Bi-Sb bismuth rich alloys, for which it is shown how structural anomalies affect the electronic structure and how inclusion of the Spin-Orbit coupling is necessary for this type of materials. Another example are bournonite materials whose low thermal conductivity is attributed to distortions and interactions associated with lone-electron s^2 pair distributions. In addition, it is shown how doping with similar atoms can affects electronic structure of these materials leading to changes in their transport properties. Clathrate materials from the less studied type II Sn class are also investigated with a detailed analysis for their structural stability, electronic properties and phonons. These systems are considered with partially substituted atoms on the framework and different guests inside. The effect upon insertion of Noble gases into the cage network is also investigated. In addition, the newly synthesized As based cationic material is also studied finding novel structure-property relations. Another class of materials, quaternary chalcogenides, have also been studied. Because of their inherently low thermal conductivity and semiconducting nature their transport properties may be optimized in a favorable way for thermoelectricity. The present work provides an in-depth study of structural and electronic properties of several classes of materials, which can be used by experimentalists for input and guidance in the laboratory.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate carbon based molecular materials at first principles levels. Special attention has been paid to simulations of X-ray spectroscopies, including near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), X-ray photoelectron, and X-ray emission spectroscopy, which can provide detailed information about core, occupied and unoccupied molecular orbitals of the systems under investigation. Theoretical calculations have helped to assign fine spectral structures in high resolution NEXAFS spectra of five azabenzenes (pyridine, pyrazine, pyrimidine, pyridazine and s-triazine), and to identify different local chemical environments among them. With the help of NEXAFS, the characters of important chemical bonds that might be responsible for the unique magnetic properties of the tetracyanoethylene compound has been revealed. Calculations have demonstrated that X-ray spectroscopies are powerful tools for isomer identification and structure determination of fullerenes and endohedral metallofullerenes. A joint experimental and theoretical study on metallofullerene Gd@C82 has firmly determined its equilibrium structure, in which the gadolinium atom lies above the hexagon on the C2 axis. It is found that the gadolinium atom could oscillate around its equilibrium position and that its oscillation amplitude increases with increasing temperature. In this thesis, several new computational schemes for large-scale systems have been proposed. Parallel implementation of a central insertion scheme (CIS) has been realized, which allows to effectively calculate electronic structures of very large systems, up to 150,000 electrons, at hybrid density functional theory levels. In comparison with traditional computational methods, CIS provides results with the same high accuracy but requires only a fraction of computational time. One of its applications is to calculate electronic structures of nanodiamond clusters varying from 0.76 nm (29 carbons) to 7.3 nm (20,959 carbons) in diameter, which enabled to resolve the long-standing debate about the validity of the quantum confinement model for nanodiamonds. Electronic structures and X-ray spectroscopies of a series of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with different diameters and lengths have been calculated, which have made it possible to interpret the existing experimental results. / QC 20100727

Submitted by MARCIA ROVADOSCHI (marciar@unifra.br) on 2018-08-16T16:45:04Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_DanieleMorgensternAimi.pdf: 5748053 bytes, checksum: d57b44570d4e19a760d7a8379dcc9315 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T16:45:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_DanieleMorgensternAimi.pdf: 5748053 bytes, checksum: d57b44570d4e19a760d7a8379dcc9315 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-09 / The structural and electronic properties of biotin and cysteine molecules interacting with pure, carboxylated and vacancy-type defects carbon nanotubes was evaluated using ab initio simulations. Carbon nanotubes (NTC) have been used for a variety of applications. Among these, we highlight the use of NTC as sensors for biological molecules. Thus, the objective of this work is to use NTC pure carboxylated and defective molecules interacting with biotin and cysteine in the development of nanosensors for these molecules. Our results showed that the interaction between these molecules and the NTC occurs via a physical adsorption with binding energies ranging from 0.22 to 1.91 eV [0.12 to 1.14 eV] for NTC interacting with biotin [cysteine]. For the carboxylated nanostructure higher binding energies are observed. In this way, carboxylated NTC aren’t interesting for interaction with the molecules, because the eventual removal of these NTC had a high energy cost. The physical adsorption between the NTC and the molecules of biotin and cysteine is of great interest for a possible experimental application of NTC as a biological sensor for these molecules. / As propriedades eletrônicas e estruturais das moléculas de biotina e cisteína interagindo com nanotubos de carbono puros, carboxilados e com defeito do tipo vacância foram estudadas fazendo-se uso de simulações computacionais baseadas na Teoria do Funcional da Densidade (DFT). Os nanotubos de carbono (NTC) vem sendo utilizados para uma série de aplicações. Dentre estas, podemos destacar sua utilização como sensores para moléculas biológicas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi utilizar NTC puros, carboxilados e com defeito interagindo com as moléculas de biotina e cisteína no desenvolvimento de nanosensores para estas moléculas. Os resultados mostraram que a interação entre essas moléculas e os NTC ocorre via uma adsorção física, pois não altera as propriedades dos nanotubos, tendo energias de ligação que variam de 0,22 a 1,91 eV para NTC interagindo com a biotina e 0,12 a 1,14 eV para NTC interagindo com a cisteína, sendo que as energias mais altas, são aquelas às quais as moléculas interagem com os NTC carboxilados. Logo, NTC carboxilados não são os mais indicados para a interação com as moléculas, pois a remoção posterior destas do NTC teria um alto custo energético. A adsorção física entre os NTC e as moléculas de biotina e cisteína é de grande interesse para uma possível aplicação experimental destes NTC como sensores biológicos para estas moléculas.

This dissertation undertakes theoretical research into the adsorption, pattern formation, and reactions of atoms, molecules, and layered materials on catalyst surfaces. These investigations are carried out from first-principles calculations of electronic and geometric structures using density functional theory (DFT) for predictions and simulations at the atomic scale. The results should be useful for further study of the catalytic activities of materials and for engineering functional nanostructures. The first part of the dissertation focuses on systematic first-principles simulations of the energetic pathways of CO oxidation on the Cu2O(100) surface. These simulations show CO to oxidize spontaneously on the O-terminated Cu2O(100) surface by consuming surface oxygen atoms. The O-vacancy on Cu2O(100) then is subsequently healed by dissociative adsorption of atmospheric O2 molecules. The second part discusses the pattern formation of hydrogen on two and three layers of Co film grown on the Cu(111) surface. It is found that increasing the pressure of H2 changes the hydrogen structure from 2H-(2 × 2) to H-p(1 × 1) through an intermediate structure of 6H-(3 × 3). The third part compares the results of different ways of introducing van der Waals (vdW) interactions into DFT simulations of the adsorption and pattern formation of various molecules on certain substrates. Examinations of the physisorption of five nucleobases on iii graphene and of n-alkane on Pt(111) demonstrate the importance of taking vdW interactions into account, and of doing so in a way that is best suited to the particular system in question. More importantly, as the adsorption of 1,4 diaminebenzene molecules on Au(111) shows inclusion of vdW interactions is crucial for accurate simulation of the pattern formation. The final part carries out first-principles calculations of the geometric and electronic structure of the Moir´e pattern of a single layer of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) on Cu(111). The results reveal three possible stacking types. They also demonstrate that the MoS2 layer to be chemisorbed, albeit weakly, and that, while Cu surface atoms are vertically disordered, the layer itself is not strongly buckled.

<p>The present thesis concerns applications of first principles electronic structure calculations in conjunction with methods of statistical mechanics for simulations of transition metal alloys both in the bulk and at surfaces.</p><p>A fully relativistic generalization of the exact muffin-tin orbitals (EMTO) method has been developed. The method accurately takes into account spin-orbit coupling and allows one to calculate orbital polarization and magneto-crystalline anisotropy in magnetic systems as well as increasing the range of applicability of the EMTO method to heavy elements. A new direct-exchange Monte Carlo (DEMC) method has been proposed, which is capable to tackling effectively statistical simulations of surface segregations in disordered and ordered alloys.</p><p>The applications of relativistic methods include calculations of spin and orbital magnetization in iron-cobalt disordered and partially ordered alloys, as well as computation of the core-level shifts (CLS) in transition metal alloys. It has been found, that relativistic corrections are important for CLS calculations in 5-d metal alloys. Properties of a Ni monolayer deposited on a Cu surface have been studied. The monolayer is found to be unstable in the top layer, and its magnetization depends greatly on the surface orientation. Two distinct energy levels have been found to exist Co/Cu/Ni trilayers deposited on the (100) Cu surface, which correspond to a completely paramagnetic trilayer and the case when only Ni is paramagnetic.</p><p>Vacancy ordering in substoichometric titanium carbides TiC_x have been simulated. Existence of three ordered phases in the range of carbon concentration x=0.5 ÷1.0 has been revealed and a theoretical phase diagram has been proposed. Surface segregations have been calculated in disordered Ni₅₀Pt₅₀ and Ni₅₀Pd₅₀ as well as in ordered NiPt alloys. Segregation reversal has been observed in the Ni₅₀Pt₅₀ alloy with Pt segregation at the (111) surface and Ni segregation at the (110). In the ordered NiPt alloys segregation behaviour is found to be affected greatly by small deviations from the exact stoichiometric composition in bulk. Surface magnetization in PdV and MoV bcc alloys have been studied. It has been found, that in PdV alloys surface segregations suppress magnetic order at the surface, while in MoV alloys magnetization is substantially enhanced due to the segregation.</p>

The present thesis concerns applications of first principles electronic structure calculations in conjunction with methods of statistical mechanics for simulations of transition metal alloys both in the bulk and at surfaces. A fully relativistic generalization of the exact muffin-tin orbitals (EMTO) method has been developed. The method accurately takes into account spin-orbit coupling and allows one to calculate orbital polarization and magneto-crystalline anisotropy in magnetic systems as well as increasing the range of applicability of the EMTO method to heavy elements. A new direct-exchange Monte Carlo (DEMC) method has been proposed, which is capable to tackling effectively statistical simulations of surface segregations in disordered and ordered alloys. The applications of relativistic methods include calculations of spin and orbital magnetization in iron-cobalt disordered and partially ordered alloys, as well as computation of the core-level shifts (CLS) in transition metal alloys. It has been found, that relativistic corrections are important for CLS calculations in 5-d metal alloys. Properties of a Ni monolayer deposited on a Cu surface have been studied. The monolayer is found to be unstable in the top layer, and its magnetization depends greatly on the surface orientation. Two distinct energy levels have been found to exist Co/Cu/Ni trilayers deposited on the (100) Cu surface, which correspond to a completely paramagnetic trilayer and the case when only Ni is paramagnetic. Vacancy ordering in substoichometric titanium carbides TiCx have been simulated. Existence of three ordered phases in the range of carbon concentration x=0.5 ÷1.0 has been revealed and a theoretical phase diagram has been proposed. Surface segregations have been calculated in disordered Ni50Pt50 and Ni50Pd50 as well as in ordered NiPt alloys. Segregation reversal has been observed in the Ni50Pt50 alloy with Pt segregation at the (111) surface and Ni segregation at the (110). In the ordered NiPt alloys segregation behaviour is found to be affected greatly by small deviations from the exact stoichiometric composition in bulk. Surface magnetization in PdV and MoV bcc alloys have been studied. It has been found, that in PdV alloys surface segregations suppress magnetic order at the surface, while in MoV alloys magnetization is substantially enhanced due to the segregation.

<p>Theoretical investigations of spectroscopic and magnetic properties of metallic systems in the bulk, as well as in nanostructured materials, have been performed within the density functional theory. The major part of the present work studies the differences between binding energies of electrons tightly bound to the atoms, the so-called core electrons (in contrast with the valence electrons), that is, core-level binding energy shift (CLS). </p><p>By comparison between corresponding elemental core-levels for atoms situated in different chemical environments we obtain fundamental understanding of bonding properties of materials. The method of choice was the complete screening picture, which includes initial and final state effects on the same footing. The usefulness of CLS stems from that it is sensitive to differences in the chemical environment of an atom, which can be affected on one hand by the global composition of e.g. disordered materials, surfaces and interfaces, and on the other hand by the very local environment around an atom. Here CLSs have been obtained for both components in the fcc random alloys AgPd, CuPd, CuNi, CuPt, CuAu, PdAu, NiPd and NiPt. Moreover the model was extended to the Auger kinetic energy shift for the LMM Auger transition in AgPd alloys. Studies were also applied to the near surface and interface regions of PdMn nano structures on Pd(100), thin CuPd and AgPd films on inert Ru(0001), and at interfaces. The disorder broadening on CLS due to local environment effects was calculated in selected alloys.</p><p>A part of the thesis concern investigations related to the magnetic ordering in Invar alloys, including the influence of local environment effects. A study was made for the dependence of effective exchange parameter on the electron concentration, volume and local chemical composition.</p>

Theoretical investigations of spectroscopic and magnetic properties of metallic systems in the bulk, as well as in nanostructured materials, have been performed within the density functional theory. The major part of the present work studies the differences between binding energies of electrons tightly bound to the atoms, the so-called core electrons (in contrast with the valence electrons), that is, core-level binding energy shift (CLS). By comparison between corresponding elemental core-levels for atoms situated in different chemical environments we obtain fundamental understanding of bonding properties of materials. The method of choice was the complete screening picture, which includes initial and final state effects on the same footing. The usefulness of CLS stems from that it is sensitive to differences in the chemical environment of an atom, which can be affected on one hand by the global composition of e.g. disordered materials, surfaces and interfaces, and on the other hand by the very local environment around an atom. Here CLSs have been obtained for both components in the fcc random alloys AgPd, CuPd, CuNi, CuPt, CuAu, PdAu, NiPd and NiPt. Moreover the model was extended to the Auger kinetic energy shift for the LMM Auger transition in AgPd alloys. Studies were also applied to the near surface and interface regions of PdMn nano structures on Pd(100), thin CuPd and AgPd films on inert Ru(0001), and at interfaces. The disorder broadening on CLS due to local environment effects was calculated in selected alloys. A part of the thesis concern investigations related to the magnetic ordering in Invar alloys, including the influence of local environment effects. A study was made for the dependence of effective exchange parameter on the electron concentration, volume and local chemical composition.