Size effect of Pd clusters on hydrogen adsorption

The size effect of Pd clusters on hydrogen adsorption was investigated by density functional theory calculations. From molecular dynamics simulations, we found that the hydrogen molecules were dissociatively adsorbed on the Pd clusters; the most stable adsorption site was the hollow site. We also found that the adsorption energy increased as the size of Pd clusters decreased. These results were in good agreement with experimental findings. By analyzing the electronic structure, we found that the d-band center shifted toward the Fermi energy as the size of the Pd cluster decreased. This shift resulted in stronger hydrogen bonding.