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Multiscale Sampling of a Heterogeneous Water/Metal Catalyst Interface using Density Functional Theory and Force-Field Molecular Dynamics
Published on: April 12, 2019
Molecular dynamics simulations of rapid hydrogen production from water using aluminum clusters as catalyzers
Fuyuki Shimojo1, Satoshi Ohmura, Rajiv K Kalia
1Collaboratory for Advanced Computing and Simulations, Department of Computer Science, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0242, USA.
Abstract:
Hydrogen production by metal particles in water could provide a renewable energy cycle, if its reaction kinetics is accelerated. Here, ab initio molecular dynamics simulation reveals rapid hydrogen production from water by a cluster (or superatom) consisting of a magic number of aluminum atoms, Al{n} (for instance, n=12 or 17). We find a low activation-barrier mechanism, in which a pair of Lewis-acid and base sites on the Al{n} surface preferentially catalyzes hydrogen production. This reaction is immensely assisted by rapid proton transport in water via a chain of hydrogen-bond switching events similar to the Grotthuss mechanism, which converts hydroxide ions to water molecules at the Lewis-acid sites and supplies hydrogen atoms at the Lewis-base sites.
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