Abstract:
In this work, the interaction between hydroxylated anatase TiO
2 (101)/(001) surfaces and H
2O was studied by molecular dynamics simulations and the effects of hydroxyl groups on the properties of TiO
2-H
2O interface were obtained. By analyzing the radial distribution functions and bond lengths of Ti
5c-O
w and O
2c-H
w, it is confirmed that the hydroxylated TiO
2 (101)/(001) model and the force field can well simulate the structures and properties of the TiO
2-H
2O system. With the molecular dynamics snapshots, the O
2c adsorption sites on TiO
2 surface had nearly no change before and after hydroxylation, while the Ti
5c adsorption sites on perfect surfaces were replaced by the hydrogen atoms of hydroxyl groups. Further research on the hydrogen bonds between H
2O and TiO
2 was shown, which caused charge transfer on the interface, and the density distribution of H
2O presents hierarchical structures made up of inner Helmholtz layer (IHL), outer Helmholtz layer (OHL) and bulk. Compared with perfect surfaces, hydroxyl groups made the IHL/OHL on TiO
2 (101) surface narrowed, while the IHL of TiO
2(001) surface got narrowed. By analyzing the diffusion properties and average velocity distribution of H
2O molecules, we found the surface structure of hydroxylated TiO
2 (001) is conducive to the movement of H
2O along the surface relative to hydroxylated TiO
2 (101). Based on the charge density distribution of H
2O, it is shown that the hydroxyl group do increase the charge fluctuation on the surface of TiO
2 (101) and (001), and the extreme value of the charge density is obviously improved.