DFT study of adsorption of CO2 on palladium cluster doped by transition metal

Abstract

We report on a theoretical study of CO2 adsorption on Pd6-M (M: Ni, Cu, Pt, Rh) cluster using first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We find that CO2 molecule is adsorbed with a bidendate configuration on Pd7 and on most of Pd6M clusters. The bidendate adsorption configuration is formed due to the filling of the unoccupied n∗ orbital of CO2 molecule upon its interaction with d-orbitals of the cluster. We find that transition metal doping could modify the adsorption energy, adsorption site and adsorption configuration of CO2 molecule on Pd7 cluster. We also predict that the usage of Pd6M clusters as CO2 hydrogenation catalysts might facilitate the formations of HCOO/COOH.