CO2 and H2 adsorption and reaction at Nin/YSZ(111) interfaces: a density functional theory study

Essadek, Abdelaziz Cadi, Roldan Martinez, Alberto ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0353-9004, Aparicio-Anglès, Xavier and De Leeuw, Nora H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8271-0545 2018. CO2 and H2 adsorption and reaction at Nin/YSZ(111) interfaces: a density functional theory study. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 122 (34) , pp. 19463-19472. 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b03488

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Abstract

To recycle CO2 into sustainable fuel and chemicals, co-electrolysis of CO2 and H2O can be achieved in solid oxide electrolysis cells, where the molecules are supplied to the Ni/YSZ electrode (YSZ = yttria-stabilized zirconia). Oxygen diffusion along the electrode has been identified as the critical step in the process, where YSZ is the common catalyst support. We have investigated the interaction of a CO2 molecule with the clean YSZ(111) surface and with Nin/YSZ(111) (n =1, 4-7, 10, 20) interfaces, using spin polarized density functional theory (DFT) and long-range dispersion correction. Here, we have considered up to six initial adsorption sites and two orientations for the CO2 molecule, which showed that the adsorption is stronger at the Nin/YSZ(111) (n =4-7, 10, 20) interface than on the clean YSZ(111) and Ni1/YSZ(111) systems. Additionally, we have determined that the preferential adsorption site of CO2 is at the interface between the Ni clusters and the YSZ(111) surface. We have observed a bending and stretching of the molecule, demonstrating its activation upon adsorption, due to charge transfer between the metal cluster and the molecule and a mixing between Ni orbitals and CO2 orbitals. In this work, we show that, although the electronic structure of the clusters depends on the cluster size, the interaction strength of CO2 with the interface is independent of the size of the supported nickel particle. Finally, we have considered the reverse water gas shift reaction and determined the hydrocarboxylic intermediate in the reaction mechanism over Ni5/YSZ(111).

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Chemistry Advanced Research Computing @ Cardiff (ARCCA)
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
ISSN:	1932-7447
Funders:	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	31 July 2018
Date of Acceptance:	26 July 2018
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 18:58
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/113799

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