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The different roles of Pu-oxide overlayers in the hydrogenation of Pu-metal: An ab initio molecular dynamics study based on vdW-DFT+U

Based on the van der Waals density functional theory (vdW-DFT)+U scheme, we carry out the ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) study of the interaction dynamics for H$_{2}$ impingement against the stoichiometric PuO$_{2}$(111), the reduced PuO$_{2}$(111), and the stoichiometric $α$-Pu$_{2}$O$_{3}$(111) surfaces. The hydrogen molecular physisorption states, which can not be captured by pure DFT+\textit{U} method, are obtained by employing the vdW-DFT+\textit{U} scheme. We show that except for the weak physisorption, PuO$_{2}$(111) surfaces are so difficult of access that almost all of the H$_{2}$ molecules will bounce back to the vacuum when their initial kinetic energies are not sufficient. Although the dissociative adsorption of H$_{2}$ on PuO$_{2}$(111) surfaces is found to be very exothermic, the collision-induced dissociation barriers of H$_{2}$ are calculated to be as high as $3.2$ eV and $2.0$ eV for stoichiometric and reduced PuO$_{2}$ surfaces, respectively. Unlike PuO$_{2}$, our AIMD study directly reveals that the hydrogen molecules can penetrate into $α$-Pu$_{2}$O$_{3}$(111) surface and diffuse easily due to the $25$\ native O vacancies located along the $\langle $111$\rangle $ diagonals of $α$-Pu$_{2}$O$_{3}$ matrix. By examining the temperature effect and the internal vibrational excitations of H$_{2}$, we provide a detailed insight into the interaction dynamics of H$_{2}$ in $α$-Pu$_{2}$O$_{3}$. The optimum pathways for hydrogen penetration and diffusion, the corresponding energy barriers ($1.0$ eV and $0.53$ eV, respectively) and rate constants are systematically calculated. Overall, our study fairly reveals the different interaction mechanisms between H$_{2}$ and Pu-oxide surfaces, which have strong implications to the interpretation of experimental observations.