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Main Authors: Page, Alister J., Villamanca, Dan, Amama, Placidus B., McLean, Ben
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22517
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author Page, Alister J.
Villamanca, Dan
Amama, Placidus B.
McLean, Ben
author_facet Page, Alister J.
Villamanca, Dan
Amama, Placidus B.
McLean, Ben
contents Nucleation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) via chemical vapour deposition of methane on CoRu bimetallic nanoparticles is simulated using quantum chemical molecular dynamics. By varying the Ru loading in the catalyst, we show that Ru decreases catalytic efficiency; C-H bond activation is impeded, key reactive intermediate species become longer-lived on the catalyst surface, and longer carbon chains are stabilised through the earliest stages of SWCNT nucleation. Analysis of the CoRu nanoparticle structure during the CVD process shows that this influence of Ru is indirect, with the catalyst adopting Ru-Co core-shell or segregated structures throughout nucleation, and Co exclusively driving the catalytic decomposition of the methane precursor. We show that the influence of Ru occurs via the electronic structure of the catalyst itself, by lowering the Fermi level of the catalyst due to lower energy 4d/5s states, in a manner consistent with d-band theory.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_22517
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Electronic Structure of Bimetallic CoRu Catalysts Modulates SWCNT Nucleation
Page, Alister J.
Villamanca, Dan
Amama, Placidus B.
McLean, Ben
Materials Science
Nucleation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) via chemical vapour deposition of methane on CoRu bimetallic nanoparticles is simulated using quantum chemical molecular dynamics. By varying the Ru loading in the catalyst, we show that Ru decreases catalytic efficiency; C-H bond activation is impeded, key reactive intermediate species become longer-lived on the catalyst surface, and longer carbon chains are stabilised through the earliest stages of SWCNT nucleation. Analysis of the CoRu nanoparticle structure during the CVD process shows that this influence of Ru is indirect, with the catalyst adopting Ru-Co core-shell or segregated structures throughout nucleation, and Co exclusively driving the catalytic decomposition of the methane precursor. We show that the influence of Ru occurs via the electronic structure of the catalyst itself, by lowering the Fermi level of the catalyst due to lower energy 4d/5s states, in a manner consistent with d-band theory.
title Electronic Structure of Bimetallic CoRu Catalysts Modulates SWCNT Nucleation
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22517