Abstract (eng)
In the framework of this thesis, the static and dynamic aspects of the interaction of metallic surfaces with simple adsorbates are investigated applying density functional theory calculations using the Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP).
In the first part of the thesis, we investigate the structure of a NiO surface oxide formed on Rh(111). Simulated annealing approaches allow to determine the complex structure, which is verified by STM simulations performed in the Tersoff-Hamann approximation. The thermodynamic stability of the structure is evaluated by calculating the
Gibbs free energies of several competing phases.
In the following part, we investigate the catalytic activity of quasi-one-dimensional nickel oxide nanowires, which can be grown at the step edges of the Rh(553) surface, with respect to the oxidation of carbon monoxide and the subsequent desorption of carbon dioxide. We apply the nudged elastic band method, the dimer method, and quasi-Newton algorithms in order to identify reaction paths. Furthermore, we calculate prefactors and reaction rate constants in the framework of transition state theory.
The next chapter is dedicated to the implementation of kinetic Monte Carlo algorithms. We evaluate temperature programmed desorption spectra of oxygen on Rh(111). A multi-site lattice gas model is used, and cross validation is applied to construct an effective Hamiltonian for the lateral interactions.
In the last part of the thesis, we use thermodynamic integration of free energy gradients to compute the free energy differences of diffusion and of desorption of oxygen on Rh(111), where the gradients are determined via constrained Molecular Dynamics simulations.