RESUMO
Seismology records the presence of various heterogeneities throughout the lower mantle1,2, but the origins of these signals-whether thermal or chemical-remain uncertain, and therefore much of the information that they hold about the nature of the deep Earth is obscured. Accurate interpretation of observed seismic velocities requires knowledge of the seismic properties of all of Earth's possible mineral components. Calcium silicate (CaSiO3) perovskite is believed to be the third most abundant mineral throughout the lower mantle. Here we simultaneously measure the crystal structure and the shear-wave and compressional-wave velocities of samples of CaSiO3 perovskite, and provide direct constraints on the adiabatic bulk and shear moduli of this material. We observe that incorporation of titanium into CaSiO3 perovskite stabilizes the tetragonal structure at higher temperatures, and that the material's shear modulus is substantially lower than is predicted by computations3-5 or thermodynamic datasets6. When combined with literature data and extrapolated, our results suggest that subducted oceanic crust will be visible as low-seismic-velocity anomalies throughout the lower mantle. In particular, we show that large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) are consistent with moderate enrichment of recycled oceanic crust, and mid-mantle discontinuities can be explained by a tetragonal-cubic phase transition in Ti-bearing CaSiO3 perovskite.
RESUMO
Studies of the modes of adsorption and the associated changes in electronic structures of renewable organic compounds are needed in order to understand the fundamentals behind surface reactions of catalysts for future energies. Using planewave density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the adsorption of ethanol on perfect and O-defected TiO(2) rutile (110) surfaces was examined. On both surfaces the dissociative adsorption mode on five-fold coordinated Ti cations (Ti(4+)(5c)) was found to be more favourable than the molecular adsorption mode. On the stoichiometric surface E(ads) was found to be equal to 0.85 eV for the ethoxide mode and equal to 0.76 eV for the molecular mode. These energies slightly increased when adsorption occurred on the Ti(4+)(5c) closest to the O-defected site. However, both considerably increased when adsorption occurred at the removed bridging surface O; interacting with Ti(3+) cations. In this case the dissociative adsorption becomes strongly favoured (E(ads) = 1.28 eV for molecular adsorption and 2.27 eV for dissociative adsorption). Geometry and electronic structures of adsorbed ethanol were analysed in detail on the stoichiometric surface. Ethanol does not undergo major changes in its structure upon adsorption with its C-O bond rotating nearly freely on the surface. Bonding to surface Ti atoms is a σ type transfer from the O2p of the ethanol-ethoxide species. Both ethanol and ethoxide present potential hole traps on O lone pairs. Charge density and work function analyses also suggest charge transfer from the adsorbate to the surface, in which the dissociative adsorptions show a larger charge transfer than the molecular adsorption mode.
RESUMO
The reaction of ethanol has been studied on the surface of rutile TiO(2)(110) by Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD), online mass spectrometry under UV excitation and photoelectron spectroscopy while the adsorption energies of the molecular and dissociative modes of ethanol were computed using the DFT/GGA method. The most stable configuration is the dissociative adsorption in line with experimental results at room temperature. At 0.5 ML coverage the adsorption energy was found equal to 80 kJ mol(-1) for the dissociative mode (ethoxide, CH(3)CH(2)O(a) + H(a)) followed by the molecular mode (67 kJ mol(-1)). The orientation of the ethoxides along the [001] or [110] direction had minor effect on the adsorption energy although affected differently the Ti and O surface atomic positions. TPD after ethanol adsorption at 300 K indicated two main reactions: dehydration to ethylene and dehydrogenation to acetaldehyde. Pre-dosing the surface with ethanol at 300 K followed by exposure to UV resulted in the formation of acetaldehyde and hydrogen. The amount of acetaldehyde could be directly linked to the presence of gas phase O(2) in the vacuum chamber. The order of this photo-catalytic reaction with respect to O(2) was found to be 0.5. Part of acetaldehyde further reacted with O(2) under UV excitation to give surface acetate species. Because the rate of photo-oxidation of acetates (acetic acid) was slower than that of ethoxides (ethanol), the surface ended up by being covered with large amounts of acetates. A reaction mechanism for acetaldehyde, hydrogen and acetate formation under UV excitation is proposed.
