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MacElroy, J. M. Don
Preferred name
MacElroy, J. M. Don
Official Name
MacElroy, J. M. Don
Research Output
Now showing 1 - 10 of 15
- PublicationFirst-principles study of the excited-state properties of coumarin-derived dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells(RSC publishing, 2011-06-23)
; ; ; ; Using Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT), we have investigated the optical properties of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) comprised of TiO2 nanoparticle sensitized with two coumarins, namely, NKX-2311 and NKX-2593. The two sensitizers (dyes) differ only in their linker moieties and are shown to have different absorption spectra when adsorbed on to the TiO2 surface. Knowledge of different light absorption and charge transfer (CT) behavior within these complexes is useful for further improving the photo-dynamics of newer organic dyes presently being designed and investigated worldwide. Moreover, we have also investigated the effect of deprotonation of the sensitizers' carboxylic groups during adsorption on the titania surface and the excited state electronic properties of the resulting species.1469Scopus© Citations 53 - PublicationA TD-DFT study of the effects of structural variations on the photochemistry of polyene dyes(RSC publications, 2011-10-06)
; ; ; ; We report a TD-DFT study of three polyene dyes namely: NKX-2553, NKX-2554 and NKX-2569 in isolation as well as upon their adsorption on TiO2 nanoparticles. By choosing closely related dyes we wish to focus on the effects of structural variations on the absorption and charge-transfer properties of these systems. These three dyes show a non-intuitive trend in their respective efficiencies and therefore, were chosen to shed light on the structural components that contribute to this behaviour. Although, NKX-2554 has an additional donor group, it is less efficient compared to the simpler NKX-2553 dye that contains only one donor group. When NKX-2554 structure is slightly modified by lengthening the linker-group, one obtains the most efficient dye among this set, namely, NKX-2569. In this work, we show that the changes in the donor moiety has very little or no effect on the efficiency of these dyes as can be seen in the case of NKX-2553 and NKX-2554. On the other hand, the improved performance of NKX-2569-titania complex can be understood to be a result of the longer linker group. A better understanding of these properties within different dye-titania complexes is important for the continual improvement of DSSCs. In this regards, this study will serve to provide guidelines to improve efficiencies of novel organic dyes.Scopus© Citations 39 941 - PublicationThe influence of Ti and Si doping on the structure, morphology and photo-response properties of α-Fe2O3 for efficient water splitting: experiment and first-principle calculations(Elsevier, 2014-01-30)
; ; ; Ti- and Si- doping effects on morphology, structure, optical and photo-response of α-Fe2O3 nanoscale coatings from atmospheric-pressure chemical vapour deposition (APCVD) have been studied. Si- and Ti-doping led to larger clusters with finer grains and smaller clusters with larger grains, respectively. Photocurrent performance was increased remarkably by doping, especially Si. Excellent agreement was found for band gaps and optical properties compared to hybrid-Density Functional Theory. Substitutional replacement of Fe by Si shrinks the volume more than Ti-doping; it is conjectured that this affects hopping probability of localised charge-carriers more and leads to enhanced photocurrent activity for Si-doping, supported by experiment.639Scopus© Citations 19 - PublicationMolecular dynamics study of water in contact with the TiO2 rutile-110, 100, 101, 001 and anatase-101, 001 surface(Taylor and Francis, 2011-05-19)
; ; ; We have carried out classical molecular dynamics of various surfaces of TiO2 with its interface with water. We report the geometrical features of the first and second monolayers of water using a Matsui Akaogi (MA) force field for the TiO2 surface and a flexible single point charge model for the water molecules. We show that the MA force field can be applied to surfaces other than rutile (110). It was found that water OH bond lengths, H–O–H bond angles and dipole moments do not vary due to the nature of the surface. However, their orientation within the first and second monolayers suggest that planar rutile (001) and anatase (001) surfaces may play an important role in not hindering removal of the products formed on these surfaces. Also, we discuss the effect of surface termination in order to explain the layering of water molecules throughout the simulation box.454Scopus© Citations 83 - PublicationMolecular dynamics study of water in contact with TiO2 rutile-110, 100, 101, 001 and anatase-101, 001 surface(Taylor and Francis, 2011-05-19)
; ; ; We have carried out classical molecular dynamics of various surfaces of TiO2 with its interface with water. We report the geometrical features of the first and second monolayers of water using a Matsui Akaogi (MA) force field for the TiO2 surface and a flexible single point charge model for the water molecules. We show that the MA force field can be applied to surfaces other than Rutile-(110). It was found that water OH bond lengths, H-O-H bond angles and dipole moments do not vary due to the nature of the surface. However, their orientation within the first and second monolayers suggest that planar Rutile-(001) and Anatase-(001) surfaces may play an important role in not hindering removal of the products formed on these surfaces. Also, we discuss the effect of surface termination in order to explain the layering of water molecules throughout the simulation box.1237Scopus© Citations 83 - PublicationTowards the design of novel boron- and nitrogen-substituted ammonia-borane and bifunctional arene ruthenium catalysts for hydrogen storage(Wiley, 2014-02-05)
; ; ; Electronic-structure density functional theory calculations have been performed to construct the potential energy surface for H2 release from ammonia-borane, with a novel bifunctional cationic ruthenium catalyst based on the sterically bulky β-diketiminato ligand (Schreiber et al., ACS Catal. 2012, 2, 2505). The focus is on identifying both a suitable substitution pattern for ammonia-borane optimized for chemical hydrogen storage and allowing for low-energy dehydrogenation. The interaction of ammonia-borane, and related substituted ammonia-boranes, with a bifunctional η6-arene ruthenium catalyst and associated variants is investigated for dehydrogenation. Interestingly, in a number of cases, hydride-proton transfer from the substituted ammonia-borane to the catalyst undergoes a barrier-less process in the gas phase, with rapid formation of hydrogenated catalyst in the gas phase. Amongst the catalysts considered, N,N-difluoro ammonia-borane and N-phenyl ammonia-borane systems resulted in negative activation energy barriers. However, these types of ammonia-boranes are inherently thermodynamically unstable and undergo barrierless decay in the gas phase. Apart from N,N-difluoro ammonia-borane, the interaction between different types of catalyst and ammonia borane was modeled in the solvent phase, revealing free-energy barriers slightly higher than those in the gas phase. Amongst the various potential candidate Ru-complexes screened, few are found to differ in terms of efficiency for the dehydrogenation (rate-limiting) step. To model dehydrogenation more accurately, a selection of explicit protic solvent molecules was considered, with the goal of lowering energy barriers for H-H recombination. It was found that primary (1°), 2°, and 3° alcohols are the most suitable to enhance reaction rate. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.523Scopus© Citations 6 - PublicationMechanisms for thermal conduction in hydrogen hydrate(American Institute of Physics, 2012-01-23)
; ; Extensive equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to investigate thermal conduction mechanisms via the Green-Kubo approach for (type II) hydrogen hydrate, at 0.05 kbar and between 30 and 250 K, for both lightly-filled H2 hydrates (1s4l) and for more densely-filled H2 systems (2s4l), in which four H2 molecules are present in the large cavities, with respective single- and double-occupation of the small cages. The TIP4P water model was used in conjunction with a fully atomistic hydrogen potential along with long-range Ewald electrostatics. It was found that substantially less damping in guest-host energy transfer is present in hydrogen hydrate as is observed in common type I clathrates (e.g., methane hydrate), but more akin in to previous results for type II and H methane hydrate polymorphs. This gives rise to larger thermal conductivities relative to common type I hydrates, and also larger than type II and H methane hydrate polymorphs, and a more crystal-like temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity.736Scopus© Citations 25 - PublicationDiffusive hydrogen inter-cage migration in hydrogen and hydrogen-tetrahydrofuran clathrate hydratesClassical equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to investigate the diffusive properties of inter-cage hydrogen migration in both pure hydrogen and mixed hydrogen-tetrahydrofuran sII hydrates at 0.05 kbar from 200 K and up to 250-260 K. For mixed H2- THF systems in which there is single H2 occupation of the small cage (labelled ‘1SC 1LC’), we found that no H2 migration occurs. However, for more densely-filled H2-THF and pure- H2 systems, in which there is more than single H2 occupation in the small cage, there is an onset of inter-cage H2 migration events from the small cages to neighbouring cavities at around 200 K. The mean square displacements of the hydrogen molecules were fitted to a mathematical model consisting of an anomalous term and a Fickian component, and non-linear regression fitting was conducted to estimate long-time (inter-cage) diffusivities. An approximate Arrhenius temperature relationship for the diffusion coefficient was examined and a rough estimation of the hydrogen hopping energy barrier was calculated for each system.
451Scopus© Citations 53 - PublicationPhoto-active and dynamical properties of hematite (Fe2O3)-water interfaces: An experimental and theoretical study(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014-02)
; ; ; The dynamical properties of physically and chemically adsorbed water molecules at pristine hematite-(001) surfaces have been studied by means of equilibrium Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) in the NVT ensemble at 298 K. The dissociation of water molecules to form chemically adsorbed species was scrutinised, in addition to ‘hopping’ or swapping events of protons between water molecules. Particular foci have been dynamical properties of the adsorbed water molecules and OH− and H3O+ ions, the hydrogen bonds between protons in water molecules and the bridging oxygen atoms at the hematite surface, as well as the interactions between oxygen atoms in adsorbed water molecules and iron atoms at the hematite surface. Experimental results for photoelectrical current generation complement simulation findings of water dissociation.542Scopus© Citations 27 - PublicationDynamical cage behaviour and hydrogen migration in hydrogen and hydrogen-tetrahydrofuran clathrate hydrates(American Institute of Physics, 2012-01-24)
; ; Classical equilibrium molecular dynamics(MD) simulations have been performed to investigate dynamical properties of cage radial breathing modes and intra- and inter-cage hydrogen migration in both pure hydrogen and mixed hydrogen-tetrahydrofuran sII hydrates at 0.05 kbar and up to 250K. For the mixed H2-THF system in which there is single H2 occupation of the small cage (labelled ‘1SC 1LC’), we find that no H2 migration occurs, and this is also the case for pure H2 hydrate with single small-cavity occupation and quadruple occupancy for large cages (dubbed ‘1SC 4LC’). However, for the more densely-filled H2-THF and pure- H2 systems, in which there is double H2 occupation in the small cage (dubbed ‘2SC 1LC’ and ‘2SC 4LC’, respectively), there is an onset of inter-cage H2 migration events from the small cages to neighbouring cavities at around 200 K, with an approximate Arrhenius temperature-dependence for the migration rate from 200 to 250 K. It was found that these ‘cage hopping’ events are facilitated by temporary openings of pentagonal small-cage faces with the relaxation and reformation of key stabilising hydrogen bonds during and following passage. The cages remain essentially intact up to 250 K, save for transient hydrogen bond weakening and reformation during and after inter-cage hydrogen diffusion events in the 200 to 250 K range. The ‘breathing modes’, or underlying frequencies governing the variation in the cavities’ radii, exhibit a certain overlap with THF rattling motion in the case of large cavities, while a there is some overlap of small cages’ radial breathing modes with lattice acoustic modes.600Scopus© Citations 34