DFT-GGA errors in NO chemisorption energies on (111) transition metal surfaces

We investigate whether well-known DFT-GGA errors in predicting the chemisorption energy (Echem) of CO on transition metal surfaces manifest in analogous NO chemisorption systems. While widely investigated in the case of CO/metal, analogous DFT-GGA errors have long been claimed to be absent in NO/metal chemisorption. Here, we provide theoretical evidence of systematic enhanced back-donation in NO/metal chemisorption at the DFT-GGA level. We use electronic structure analysis to show that the partially filled molecular NO 2π⁎ orbital rehybridizes with the transition metal d-band to form new bonding and anti-bonding states. We relate the back-donation charge transfer associated with chemisorption to the promotion of an electron from the 5σ orbital to the 2π⁎ orbital in the gas-phase NO G2Σ− ← X2Π excitation. We establish linear relationships between Echem and ΔEG ← X and formulate an Echem correction scheme in the style of Mason et al. [Physical Review B 69, 161401(R)]. We apply the NO Echem correction method to the (111) surfaces of Pt, Pd, Rh, and Ir, with NO chemisorption modeled at a coverage of 0.25 ML. We note that the slope of Echemvs. ΔEG ← X and the dipole moment depend strongly on adsorption site for each metal, and we construct an approximate correction scheme which we test using NO/Pt(100) chemisorption.