The rate of ammonia synthesis over a nanoparticle ruthenium catalyst can be calculated directly on the basis of a quantum chemical treatment of the problem using density functional theory. We compared the results to measured rates over a ruthenium catalyst supported on magnesium aluminum spinel. When the size distribution of ruthenium particles measured by transmission electron microscopy was used as the link between the catalyst material and the theoretical treatment, the calculated rate was within a factor of 3 to 20 of the experimental rate. This offers hope for computer-based methods in the search for catalysts.

Background: The majority of complex and advanced materials contain nanoparticles. The properties of these materials depend crucially on the size and shape of these nanoparticles. Wulff construction offers a simple method of predicting the equilibrium shape of nanoparticles given the surface energies of the material.Results: We review the mathematical formulation and the main applications of Wulff construction during the last two decades. We then focus to three recent extensions: active sites of metal nanoparticles for heterogeneous catalysis, ligand-protected nanoparticles generated as colloidal suspensions and nanoparticles of complex metal hydrides for hydrogen storage.Conclusion: Wulff construction, in particular when linked to first-principles calculations, is a powerful tool for the analysis and prediction of the shapes of nanoparticles and tailor the properties of shape-inducing species.

We present band-structure calculations of several semiconductors and insulators within the framework of density-functional theory in the local-density approximation (DFT/LDA), employing the correction for excited states proposed by Fritsche and co-workers. We applied the method to examine typical elemental (C,Si,Ge), compound group-IV (SiC, SiGe, GeC) and compound III-IV semiconductors (AlN, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, InP, InAs, InSb), and examined in detail the approximations involved in the conduction-band energy correction. This quite simple method (referred to as generalized density-functional theory), while not a substitute for more rigorous theoretical approaches such as the $\mathrm{GW}$ method, gives results in reasonable agreement with experiment. Thus, it makes possible the calculation of semiconductor band gaps with the computational effort of a DFT/LDA calculation, at least for systems where more elaborate methods are not readily applicable.