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Comparative DFT Study of van der Waals Complexes:  Rare-Gas Dimers, Alkaline-Earth Dimers, Zinc Dimer, and Zinc-Rare-Gas Dimers

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posted on 2006-04-20, 00:00 authored by Yan Zhao, Donald G. Truhlar
Recent interest in the application of density functional theory prompted us to test various functionals for the van der Waals interactions in the rare-gas dimers, the alkaline-earth metal dimers, zinc dimer, and zinc-rare-gas dimers. In the present study, we report such tests for 18 DFT functionals, including both some very recent functionals and some well-established older ones. We draw the following conclusions based on the mean errors in binding energies and complex geometries:  (1) B97-1 gives the best performance for predicting the geometry of rare-gas dimers, whereas M05-2X and B97-1 give the best energetics for rare-gas dimers. (2) PWB6K gives the best performance for the prediction of the geometry of the alkaline-earth metal dimers, zinc dimers, and zinc-rare-gas dimers. M05-2X gives the best energetics for the metal dimers, whereas B97-1 gives the best energetics for the zinc-rare-gas dimers. (3) The M05 functional is unique in providing good accuracy for both covalent transition-metal dimers and van der Waals metal dimers. (4) The combined mean percentage unsigned error in geometries and energetics shows that M05-2X and MPWB1K are the overall best methods for the prediction of van der Waals interactions in metal and rare-gas van der Waals dimers.

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