Oxidation of ligand-protected aluminum clusters: an ab initio molecular dynamics study

We report Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations of the oxidation of ligand-protected aluminum clusters that form a prototypical cluster-assembled material. These clusters contain a small aluminum core surrounded by a monolayer of organic ligand. The aromatic cyclopentadienyl ligands form a strong bond with surface Al atoms, giving rise to an organometallic cluster that crystallizes into a low-symmetry solid and is briefly stable in air before oxidizing. Our calculations of isolated aluminum/cyclopentadienyl clusters reacting with oxygen show minimal reaction between the ligand and O2 molecules at simulation temperatures of 500 and 1000 K. In all cases, the reaction pathway involves O2 diffusing through the ligand barrier, splitting into atomic oxygen upon contact with the aluminum, and forming an oxide cluster with aluminum/ligand bonds still largely intact. Loss of individual aluminum-ligand units, as expected from unimolecular decomposition calculations, is not observed except following significant oxidation. These calculations highlight the role of the ligand in providing a steric barrier against oxidizers and in maintaining the large aluminum surface area of the solid-state cluster material.