Biomedical subjects

Pier Luigi Silvestrelli

Publications and source records attributed to Pier Luigi Silvestrelli.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Lithium adsorption on graphite from density functional theory calculations.

The structural, energetic, and electronic properties of the Li/graphite system are studied through density functional theory (DFT) calculations using both the local spin density approximation (LSDA), and the gradient-corrected Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) approximation to the exchange-correlation energy. The calculations were performed using plane waves basis, and the electron-core interactions are described using pseudopotentials. We consider a disperse phase of the adsorbate comprising one Li atom for each 16 graphite surface cells, in a slab geometry. The close contact between the Li nucleus and the graphene plane results in a relatively large binding energy (larger than 1.1 eV). A detailed analysis of the electronic charge distribution, density difference distribution, and band structures indicates that one valence electron is entirely transferred from the atom to the surface, which gives rise to a strong interaction between the resulting lithium ion and the cloud of pi electrons in the substrate. We show that it is possible to explain the differences in the binding of Li, Na, and K adatoms on graphite considering the properties of the corresponding cation/aromatic complexes.

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PubMed2006

Interfacial water on Cl- and H-terminated Si(111) surfaces from first-principles calculations.

The properties of interfacial water on Cl- and H-terminated Si(111) surfaces are investigated using a first-principles approach and characterized by means of energetic analysis combined with hydrogen-bond counting. The interaction of water with both substrates is found to be significantly weak, although bonding with the Cl-terminated Si(111) surface is relatively stronger because of the electrostatic contribution. According to a molecular picture for attributing the hydrophilic/hydrophobic character, both surfaces should be considered hydrophobic, at variance with the interpretation of recent ultrafast electron crystallography experiments, which seems instead to support a hydrophilic nature of the Cl-terminated Si(111) substrate.

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PubMed2005

Hydrophobic-hydrophilic interactions of water with alkanethiolate chains from first-principles calculations.

The interaction of water with alkanethiolate chains is studied from first principles. A detailed analysis is performed by optimizing the structure of small water clusters, one-dimensional water chains, and ordered and disordered thin water layers adsorbed on hydroxyl(OH)- and methyl(CH3)-terminated alkanethiol monolayers. The hydrophilic/hydrophobic character of these two different substrates is investigated by means of an energetic analysis combined with hydrogen-bond counting. On the hydrophilic OH-terminated alkanethiol surface, zigzag, one-dimensional water chains and disordered thin water layers are the energetically favored structures. The ab initio results can be used to determine the optimal value of the empirical parameters characterizing a suitable force field to be used in classic molecular dynamics simulations.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2005

Chemisorption of barrelene on Si(100) from first principles calculations.

The chemisorption of C8H8 bicyclo[2.2.2]-2,5,7-octatriene (barrelene) on the Si(100) surface is studied from first principles calculations. We find that, in the most stable configuration, barrelene is bonded to Si(100) through four Si-C bonds, with the C-C bonds which are orthogonal to the underlying Si dimers. The chemisorption reaction responsible for this structure is driven by the biradical nature of the Si-Si dimer bond. Two others, slightly less stable configurations, exist which are also characterized by four Si-C bonds but have a different orientation or location with respect to the Si(100) surface. The properties of these and other, less stable configurations have been investigated. For the most stable structures, the effect of different surface coverages has been also studied, showing a tendency to easily form complete monolayers of barrelene on the Si surface. On the basis of energetic and kinetic considerations, we expect that chemisorption of barrelene monolayers on the Si(100) surface will be characterized however by a certain amount of disorder. Finally, several possible reaction pathways, leading from one stable structure to another of lower energy or from a molecule in the gas phase to a chemisorbed configuration, have been investigated in detail and estimates of the relative energy barriers are given.

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PubMed2004

Adsorption of 3-pyrroline on Si(100) from first principles.

The chemisorption of 3-pyrroline (C(4)H(7)N) on Si(100) is studied from first principles. Three different structures can be realized for which, depending on the temperature, the chemisorption process is facile (for two of them it is essentially barrierless); among these configurations the most favored one, from a thermodynamical point of view, is a dissociated structure obtained through an exothermic reaction characterized by the formation of a N-Si bond and a H-Si bond in which the H atom is detached from the molecule. Several other chemisorption structures are possible which, however, require overcoming a significant energy barrier and often breaking multiple bonds. A number of reaction paths going from one stable structure to another have been investigated. We have also generated, for the two basic adsorption structures, theoretical scanning tunneling microscopy images which could facilitate the interpretation of experimental measurements, and we propose a possible reaction mechanism for nitrogen incorporation.

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PubMed2003

E' centers in alpha quartz in the absence of oxygen vacancies: a first-principles molecular-dynamics study.

The displacement of an oxygen atom in pure alpha quartz is studied via first-principles molecular dynamics. The simulations show that when an O atom in a Si-O-Si bridge is moved away from its original equilibrium position, a new stable energy minimum can be reached. Depending on the spin state and charge Q of the system, this minimum can give rise to either a threefold oxygen (singlet ground state and Q=+1) or to an unsaturated Si atom carrying a dangling bond (triplet state). In the latter case, the hyperfine parameters associated with the 29Si dangling bond are in rather good agreement with electron paramagnetic resonance/electron nuclear double resonance experiments.

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