Introduction
Rare earth elements have many unique
properties. Adding trace rare earth elements into metal materials can
improve the microstructure, mechanical properties, oxidation resistance
and corrosion resistance of metals to varying degrees. The results show
that the addition of rare earth elements in the smelting process of
metals can play a role in purifying, modifying inclusions and
microalloying[1-6]. These effects will change the
morphology and distribution of inclusions in metals, so that more
inclusions with very small particle diameter and dispersed distribution
are generated in the solidification process of metals, and then improve
their comprehensive properties. At present, the mechanism of rare
earth’s morphology and action form in metals is not clear, which affects
its efficient utilization.As a transition state between solid state and
gas state, the emergence of cluster research provides a suitable
research method for the development and improvement of the theory of
atomic bonding, the existence form and the formation law of various
macromolecules.
Yttrium oxide (Y2O3) is a deoxidation
product of rare earth treatment of molten steel. It is a typical rare
earth oxide and has the general properties of rare earth oxides. It has
a wide range of technical applications in the fields of electronics,
optics, mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering and catalyst
support[7]. At room temperature, yttrium oxide has
a C-type cubic structure of rare earth oxides, belonging to the
body-centered cubic structure of iron manganese ore type (space group
Ia3), similar to fluorite (CaF2) structure with a
quarter anion vacancy, and the band gap is 5.8
eV[8-10]. Yttrium oxide cluster is a kind of
transition state and intermediate product in the nucleation of yttrium
oxide crystal. At present, most of these studies restricted to the small
size with monomer, dioxide, and trioxide
clusters[11-14]. In the experiment, Wu and
Wang[15] studied the electronic structure of small
YOn− clusters with n=1−5 by
photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), obtained the vibration-resolved
photoelectron spectroscopy of YOn−,
and measured the electron affinity of YO.
Pramann[16]et al. studied the electron affinity
and vertical ionization energy of
YnOm− clusters with
n=2−10, m=1−3, discussed the evolution process of the electronic
structure of neutral yttrium oxide clusters, and compared the difference
of yttrium oxide dissociation energy.
Knickelbein[17] calculated the photoelectric
energy spectra of Yn and YnO clusters
with n=2−31, and studied the variation law of their vertical ionization
energy. In terms of theoretical calculations, Amol B.
Rahane[18]et al. studied small-sized yttrium oxide
clusters with molecular number of 1-10, and discussed their stability
and electronic characteristics. Rong Li and Qiyao
Zhang[19, 20] studied the structure and stability
of (Al2O3)n(n=7 and
n=15), and obtained many isomers. Xiao Jianyun[21]et al. studied (HgSe)n(n=1-6) clusters using density
functional theory, obtained the equilibrium geometry, vertical
ionization energy results, and analyzed the atomic net charge
distribution, frontier molecular orbital characteristics.
Previous studies only studied the structure and photoelectric energy
spectrum of yttrium oxide ions or single element yttrium, and discussed
the effects of different oxygen to metal ratios on their structure and
electronic properties. However, there were few studies on the neutral
Y2O3 clusters structure, especially the
cluster structure with medium and large sizes. In this paper, the
structure and properties of yttrium oxide clusters are studied by
artificial bee colony algorithm combined with quantum chemical
calculation, in order to improve the thermodynamic data of nano yttrium
oxide clusters, and lay the foundation for exploring the nucleation
process of rare earth inclusions in metal materials, and provide
technical guidance for the process of adding rare earth yttrium in metal
and the size control of inclusions.