Adsorption Behavior of CH₂ and CH₃ on Metal Clusters Cu_n (n=1-6)

Using density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation and hybrid functional, we studied the properties of energy, charge population, and vibration of CH2 and CH3 adsorbed on Cun (n=1-6) clusters. The results show that the DFT calculation with the hybrid functional matches the experimental results better in both cases. The calculation results indicate that the adsorption of CH2 is stronger than that of CH3. During adsorption, the charges transfer from Cu to CH2 or CH3. The obtained vibrational frequencies for different modes of CH2 and CH3 adsorbed on Cun agree well with the experimental results for the adsorption on Cu(111) surface.