N2 chemisorption to Wn− nanoclusters: molecular versus dissociative chemisorption

Comparative studies on adsorption of atomic and molecular nitrogen indicate that in contrast to the previous results from tungsten bulk crystals, molecular chemisorption of N2 is more stable than dissociative ones on tungsten anion clusters consisting of 8 atoms or less. Our result provides a new aspect in chemisorption on metal clusters, namely the energetically preferred channel of chemisorption – dissociative versus molecular – might be different for metal clusters and bulk surfaces.