The performance of density functional theory (DFT) (VWN-LDA, PBE-GGA, and B3LYP hybrid functionals), density-functional-based tight binding (DFTB), and ab initio methods [HF, MP2, CCSD, and CCSD(T)] for the treatment of London dispersion is investigated. Although highly correlated ab initio methods are capable of describing this phenomenon, if they are used with rather large basis sets, DFT methods are found to be inadequate for the description of H2/PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) interactions. As an alternative approach, an a posteriori addition of a van der Waals term to DFTB is proposed. This method provides results for H2/PAH interactions in close agreement with MP2 and higher-level ab initio methods. Bulk properties of graphite also compare well with the experimental data.

The aluminosilicate mineral imogolite is composed of single-walled nanotubes with stoichiometry of (HO)(3)Al(2)O(3)SiOH and occurs naturally in soils of volcanic origin. In the present work we study the stability and the electronic and mechanical properties of zigzag and armchair imogolite nanotubes using the density-functional tight-binding method. The (12,0) imogolite tube has the highest stability of all tubes studied here. Uniquely for nanotubes, imogolite has a minimum in the strain energy for the optimum structure. This is in agreement with experimental data, as shown by comparison with the simulated X-ray diffraction spectrum. An analysis of the electronic densities of states shows that all imogolite tubes, independent on their chirality and size, are insulators.

Halloysite is a clay mineral with stoichiometry Al 2 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 • nH 2 O that can grow into long tubules and is chemically similar to kaolinite. In this work we present a systematic study on the stability, electronic, and mechanical properties of zigzag and armchair single-walled halloysite nanotubes by means of the self-consistent charge density-functional tight-binding method (SCC-DFTB). The detailed analysis is focused on structural properties, strain energy, and band gap as a function of tube radii and Mulliken charge distribution. The strain energy of halloysite nanotubes does not have a monotonic character and the most stable structures should be observed in the region of radii above 24 Å, in agreement with experimental data. Analysis of the electronic density of states shows that all tubes are insulators. Our calculations predict that single-walled halloysite nanotubes have Young modulus in the same order of imogolite and inorganic nanotubes, but smaller than that of carbon nanotubes. Even though most of the properties are adequately described by simpler halloysite models, further studies on multiwalled and larger diameter tubes are in progress.