The adsorption of phosphonic acid on the TiO2 anatase (101) and rutile (110) surfaces have been investigated by means of efficient density-functional-based tight-binding calculations. We studied the geometries and adsorption energies of several adsorption models to achieve clarification of the discrepancy in the experimental finding of a preferred binding state. In this paper we show that there are several adsorption structures likely to be present on the specific TiO2 surfaces. Those structures have exclusively a bidentate configuration. They have similar adsorption energies but different geometries. For the monodentate complexes, we find a strong trend of the adsorption geometry relaxing toward the bidentate coordination. Also, they have significantly smaller adsorption energies. Furthermore, we extensively demonstrate the reliability of the SCC-DFTB method for this chemical system, which opens the way for studies of adsorption on more complex titania materials.

The association of Ag(+) ions and the early stage of Ag nanoparticle nucleation are investigated from molecular dynamics simulations. Combining special techniques for tackling crystal nucleation from solution with efficient approaches to model redox-reactions, we unravel the structural evolution of forming silver nanoparticles as a function of the redox-potential in the solution. Within a range of only 1 eV, the redox-potential is demonstrated to have a drastic effect on both the inner structure and the overall shape of the forming particles. On the basis of our simulations we identify surface charge and its distribution as an atomic scale mechanism that accounts for creating/avoiding 5-fold coordination polyhedra and thus the degree of (multiple)-twinning in silver nanoparticles.

The mechanism of (1010) and (0001) zinc oxide surface growth from ethanolic solution is investigated by molecular simulation. Growth steps are modelled at the maximum level of detail, i.e. by association of individual Zn 2+ and OH − ions. Apart from structural relaxation, a mixed quantum/classical approach is used to explicitly study the proton-transfer reactions during crystal growth. Starting from idealized surfaces, we find that the (0001) face evolves into rough landscapes composed of small islands separated by~1 nm. On the other hand, the (1010) growth front shows the formation of ridges encompassed by analogous 1010 planes of the wurtzite structure. Contrary to idealized surface models, such rough surfaces obtained from explicit growth simulations enable us to identify considerable differences in both the binding site and energy for the association of growth-controlling additives. Using acetate and citrate ions as examples, we demonstrated the preferential association with peaks and kinks, respectively.

A recently developed atomistic simulation scheme for investigating ion aggregation from solution is transferred to the morphogenesis of metal clusters grown from the vapor and layers deposited on a substrate surface. Both systems are chosen as benchmark models for intense motif reorganization during aggregate/layer growth. The applied simulation method does not necessarily involve global energy minimization after each growth event, but instead describes crystal growth as a series of structurally related configurations which may also include local energy minima. Apart from the particularly favorable high-symmetry configurations known from experiments and global energy minimization, we also demonstrate the investigation of transient structures. In the spirit of Ostwald's step rule, a continuous evolution of the aggregate/layer structure during crystal growth is observed.