Cálculos ab initio da energia de formação de compostos tipo-­brucita

Abstract

The anionic clays, commonly known as layered double hydroxides (LDH) or hydrotalcite­like compounds, are a family of materials whose chemical formula can be represented by [M2+(1­x) Me3+x(OH)2]x+ . Am­x/m . nH2O. The LDHs have been used in recent years in the synthesis of catalyst supports, catalysts precursors or as actual catalysts. These compounds have hydroxide planes, or layers, that become positively charged by the substitution of divalent cations M2+ by trivalent cations Me3+. This charge is balanced by inter­layer anions. Despite the wide application of these materials in catalysis, there are not explanations for their properties from atomic structure using simulations, that could be used in predictions and to search for more efficient and selective catalysts. The brucite, Mg(OH)2, is a hydroxide that has neutral layers and, because of its chemical and structural simplicity, is an important model system to study the behaviour of the layered hydroxides. The lack of theoretical knowledge about hydrotalcites justifies these previous studies on brucite­like compounds. The characteristics related to layered structures can be analyzed through the understanding of their stability in several compositions using brucite­like structure. The relation between the composition of these materials and their formation energy can be investigated by quantum mechanical simulations. This work presents ab initio DFT calculations for total energy of Mg(OH)2 and structure optimization of brucite­like compounds generated by replacing of Mg2+ by Ca2+, Cu2+ or Zn2+ in several proportions. The calculations were performed using the generalized gradient approximation PBE for exchange and correlation energy and Troullier­Martins pseudopotentials for core electrons. Plane waves were used as basis set for the valence electrons wave function.

The vibrational spectra of magnesium and calcium hydroxides have been studied and the calculated frequencies of normal modes are in good agreement with experiments. The formation energy suggest the formation of Cu­Mg and Zn­Mg brucite­like compounds. The preferential ratio Cu/Mg and Zn/Mg are 1:1. There are indications that the MgxZn1­x(OH)2 compounds are not ordered, while MgxCu1­x(OH)2 are ordered with respect to layer cations. Furthermore, the results suggest that, for layered compound containing Cu, the molar fraction x must be higher than 0.5. No MgxCa1­x(OH)2 brucite­like mixtures were predicted by the calculations, since they are not favored energetically. All theoretical results are in agreement with the experimental indications from literature.