The DFT+Umol method and its application to the adsorption of CO on platinum model clusters

Semi-local DFT approximations are well-known for their difficulty with describing the correct site preference for the adsorption of CO molecules on (111) surfaces of several late transition metals. To address this problem originating from a residual self-interaction in the CO LUMO, we present the DFT+Umol approach which generalizes the empirical DFT+U correction to fragment molecular orbitals. This correction is applied to examine CO adsorption energies at various sites on the (111) facets of cuboctahedral clusters Pt _m(CO)₈ (m = 79, 140, 225). The DFT+Umol correction leaves the electronic ground state of metal clusters, in particular their d-band structure, essentially unchanged, affecting almost exclusively the energy of the CO LUMO. As a result, that correction is significantly stronger for complexes at hollow sites, hence increases the propensity for adsorption at top sites. We also analyze competing edge effects on the (111) facets of the cluster models.