Density-functional study of the structure and properties of Al 13 OH clusters

The studies on the structure and electronic properties of Al 13 OH clusters are carried out using a density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation. C 1 (I) and I h ontop forms are the ground-state structures for neutral and anionic Al 13 OH, respectively; and the hollow form is not stable. The structure of Al 13 moieties dramatically changes for Al 13 OH due to the charge transfer from Al 13 cluster to OH. While the Al 13 moieties can keep their structures because of the extra electron localized on the moiety in Al 13 OH − clusters. The binding strength of OH to Al 13 − and Al 13 are similar in many cases. Population analysis shows that the bonding characteristic of these clusters is mainly ionic. For Al 13 OH − clusters, the ontop forms are more stable than the bridge forms. The large binding energy and HOMO–LUMO gap imply that neutral clusters would be physically and chemically stable.