The development of high-efficiency porous catalyst membranes critically depends on our understanding of where the majority of the chemical conversions occur within the porous structure. This requires mapping of chemical reactions and mass transport inside the complex nanoscale architecture of porous catalyst membranes which is a multiscale problem in both the temporal and spatial domains. To address this problem, we developed a multiscale mass transport computational framework based on the lattice Boltzmann method that allows us to account for catalytic reactions at the gas-solid interface by introducing a new boundary condition. In good agreement with experiments, the simulations reveal that most catalytic reactions occur near the gas-flow facing side of the catalyst membrane if chemical reactions are fast compared to mass transport within the porous catalyst membrane.

Atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is an ideal semiconductor material for field-effect transistors (FETs) with sub-10 nm channel lengths. The high effective mass and large bandgap of MoS2 minimize direct source-drain tunneling, while its atomically thin body maximizes the gate modulation efficiency in ultrashort-channel transistors. However, no experimental study to date has approached the sub-10 nm scale due to the multiple challenges related to nanofabrication at this length scale and the high contact resistance traditionally observed in MoS2 transistors. Here, using the semiconducting-to-metallic phase transition of MoS2, we demonstrate sub-10 nm channel-length transistor fabrication by directed self-assembly patterning of mono- and trilayer MoS2. This is done in a 7.5 nm half-pitch periodic chain of transistors where semiconducting (2H) MoS2 channel regions are seamlessly connected to metallic-phase (1T') MoS2 access and contact regions. The resulting 7.5 nm channel-length MoS2 FET has a low off-current of 10 pA/mu m, an on/off current ratio of >10(7), and a subthreshold swing of 120 mV/dec. The experimental results presented in this work, combined with device transport modeling, reveal the remarkable potential of 2D MoS2 for future sub-10 nm technology nodes.

Enhancing the selectivity of catalytic processes has potential for substantially increasing the sustainability of chemical production. Herein, we establish relationships between reaction selectivity and molecular structure for a homologous series of key intermediates for oxidative coupling of alcohols on gold using a combination of experiment and theory. We establish a scale of binding for molecules with different alkyl structures and chain lengths and thereby demonstrate the critical nature of noncovalent van der Waals interactions in determining the selectivity by modulating the stability of key reaction intermediates bound to the surface. The binding hierarchy is the same for Au(111) and Au(110), which demonstrates a relative lack of sensitivity to the surface structure. The hierarchy of binding established in this work provides guiding principles for predicting how molecular structure affects the competition for binding sites more broadly. Besides the nature of the primary surface-molecule bonding, three additional factors that affect the stabilities of the reactive intermediates are clearly established: (1) the number of C atoms in the alkyl chain, (2) the presence of C-C bond unsaturation, and (3) the degree of branching of the alkyl group of the adsorbed molecules. We suggest that this is a fundamental principle that is generally applicable to a broad range of reactions on metal catalysts.

A key issue in two-dimensional structures composed of atom-thick sheets of electronic materials is the dependence of the properties of the combined system on the features of its parts. Here, we introduce a simple framework for the study of the electronic structure of layered assemblies based on perturbation theory. Within this framework, we calculate the band structure of commensurate and twisted bilayers of graphene (Gr) and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), and of a Gr/h-BN heterostructure, which we compare with reference full-scale density functional theory calculations. This study presents a general methodology for computationally efficient calculations of two-dimensional materials and also demonstrates that for relatively large twist in the graphene bilayer, the perturbation of electronic states near the Fermi level is negligible.

We present a method for real-time propagation of electronic wave functions, within time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT), coupled to ionic motion through mean-field classical dynamics. The goal of our method is to treat large systems and complex processes, in particular photocatalytic reactions and electron transfer events on surfaces and thin films. Due to the complexity of these processes, computational approaches are needed to provide insight into the underlying physical mechanisms and are therefore crucial for the rational design of new materials. Because of the short time step required for electron propagation (of order similar to 10 attoseconds), these simulations are computationally very demanding. Our methodology is based on numerical atomic-orbital-basis sets for computational efficiency. In the computational package, to which we refer as TDAP-2.0 (Time-evolving Deterministic Atom Propagator), we have implemented a number of important features and analysis tools for more accurate and efficient treatment of large, complex systems and time scales that reach into a fraction of a picosecond. We showcase the capabilities of our method using four different examples: (i) photodissociation into radicals of opposite spin, (ii) hydrogen adsorption on aluminum surfaces, (iii) optical absorption of spin-polarized organic molecule containing a metal ion, and (iv) electron transfer in a prototypical dye sensitized solar cell.

Weak inter-adsorbate interactions are shown to play a crucial role in determining surface structure, with major implications for its catalytic reactivity. This is exemplified here in the case of acetate bound to Au(110), where the small extra energy of the van der Waals interactions among the surface-bound groups drives massive restructuring of the underlying Au. Acetate is a key intermediate in electro-oxidation of CO2 and a poison in partial oxidation reactions. Metal atom migration originates at surface defects and is likely facilitated by weakened Au-Au interactions due to bonding with the acetate. Even though the acetate is a relatively small molecule, weak intermolecular interaction provides the energy required for molecular self-assembly and reorganization of the metal surface.

{{The ability to fabricate 2D device architectures with desired properties, based on stacking of weakly (van der Waals) interacting atomically thin layers, is quickly becoming reality. In order to design ever more complex devices of this type, it is crucial to know the precise strain and composition dependence of the layers' electronic and optical properties. Here, we present a theoretical study of these dependences for monolayers with compositions varying from pure MX2 to the mixed MXY, where M = Mo, W and X

In contrast with crystallization, there is no noticeable structural change at the glass transition. Characteristic features of glassy dynamics that appear below an onset temperature, T-0 (refs 1-3), are qualitatively captured by mean field theory(4-6), which assumes uniform local structure. Studies of more realistic systems have found only weak correlations between structure and dynamics(7-11). This raises the question: is structure important to glassy dynamics in three dimensions? We answer this question affirmatively, using machine learning to identify a new field, `softness' which characterizes local structure and is strongly correlated with dynamics. We find that the onset of glassy dynamics at T-0 corresponds to the onset of correlations between softness (that is, structure) and dynamics. Moreover, we construct a simple model of relaxation that agrees well with our simulation results, showing that a theory of the evolution of softness in time would constitute a theory of glassy dynamics.

At zero temperature a disordered solid corresponds to a local minimum in the energy landscape. As the temperature is raised or the system is driven with a mechanical load, the system explores different minima via dynamical events in which particles rearrange their relative positions. We have shown recently that the dynamics of particle rearrangements are strongly correlated with a structural quantity associated with each particle, ``softness'', which we can identify using supervised machine learning. Particles of a given softness have a well-defined energy scale that governs local rearrangements; because of this property, softness greatly simplifies our understanding of glassy dynamics. Here we investigate the correlation of softness with other commonly used structural quantities, such as coordination number and local potential energy. We show that although softness strongly correlates with these properties, its predictive power for rearrangement dynamics is much higher. We introduce a useful metric for quantifying the quality of structural quantities as predictors of dynamics. We hope that, in the future, authors introducing new structural measures of dynamics will compare their proposals quantitatively to softness using this metric. We also show how softness correlations give insight into rearrangements. Finally, we explore the physical meaning of softness using unsupervised dimensionality reduction and reduced curve-fitting, models, and show that softness can be recast in a form that is amenable to analytical treatment.

Twisted bilayer graphene (TBLG) is one of the simplest van der Waals heterostructures, yet it yields a complex electronic system with intricate interplay between moire physics and interlayer hybridization effects. We report on electronic transport measurements of high mobility small angle TBLG devices showing clear evidence for insulating states at the superlattice band edges, with thermal activation gaps several times larger than theoretically predicted. Moreover, Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations and tight binding calculations reveal that the band structure consists of two intersecting Fermi contours whose crossing points are effectively unhybridized. We attribute this to exponentially suppressed interlayer hopping amplitudes for momentum transfers larger than the moire wave vector.

Raman scattering plays a key role in unraveling the quantum dynamics of graphene, perhaps the most promising material of recent times. It is crucial to correctly interpret the meaning of the spectra. It is therefore very surprising that the widely accepted understanding of Raman scattering, i.e., Kramers Heisenberg Dirac theory, has never been applied to graphene. Doing so here, a remarkable mechanism we term''transition sliding'' is uncovered, explaining the uncommon brightness of overtones in graphene. Graphene's dispersive and fixed Raman bands, missing bands, defect density and laser frequency dependence of band intensities, widths of overtone bands, Stokes, anti -Stokes anomalies, and other known properties emerge simply and directly.