Enhancing oxide surface reactivity by doping or nano-structuring

Wide band-gap simple oxides are rather inert materials, which found applications in heterogeneous catalysis mainly as supports for active metal nanoparticles. This thesis investigates tailored modifications of the oxide characteristics aimed at making these substrates more reactive in catalytic processes. In particular we are interested in engineering the charge transfer with supported metal catalysts in order to enhance their activity and selectivity. By using first principles calculations in the framework of the density functional theory, we have explored two main routes in this field: 1) nanostructuring, in particular nanothick oxide films supported on metals, and 2) doping of oxides with substitutional metal ions. After addressing methodological aspects related to the theoretical simulations of these materials, we have considered the role of oxide doping in optimizing the structural and electronic properties of supported gold adparticles; we have shown that depending on the dopant and the nature of the oxide it is possible to finely tune the shape and the charge state of adsorbed metal particle. Moreover we have combined oxide doping and nanostructuring in modifying the work function of metal substrates. By varying parameters like nature, position, and concentration of dopants within the metal-supported oxide films, it is possible in principle to modify the work function of the metallic support in a desired way.