Extended embedded-atom method for platinum nanoparticles

We present a new technique to extend the embedded-atom method (EAM) for the simulations of non-bulk systems down to the atomic cluster level. To overcome the limitation of the traditional bulk-fit EAM interatomic potentials, bond characteristics from first-principles calculations are systematically included by introducing a local structure dependent prefactor with three additional parameters to the conventional EAM many-body term. The additional parameters improve the local potential landscape virtually for the entire range of atomic configuration space in a quantitative sense. The proposed scheme is applied to two different EAM function sets and validated for both bulk and non-bulk environments in elemental platinum. The obtained material properties, including the binding energies of Pt particles and the Pt adatom diffusion barrier on the Pt(1 1 1) surface, show a significant improvement over the conventional EAM formalism.