Atomic Au and Pd Negative-Ion Catalysis of H$_{2}$O, HDO, and D$_{2}$O to Corresponding Peroxides

Fundamental ideas of muon-catalyzed fusion utilizing a negative muon, a deuteron and/or a triton, have been used in atomic Au and Pd negative ion-catalysis of H$_{2}$O$_{2}$, HDO$_{2}$, and D$_{2}$O$_{2}$ from H$_{2}$O, HDO, and D$_{2}$O, respectively, finding that Au$^{-}$ is an excellent catalyst but the Pd$^{-}$ ion has a higher catalytic effect, consistent with recent observations. The fundamental atomic mechanism responsible for the oxidation of water to peroxide has been attributed to the interplay between Regge resonances and Ramsauer-Townsend minima in low energy electron elastic total cross sections for Au and Pd atoms, along with their large electron affinities. Dispersion-corrected density-functional theory transition state calculations performed on atomic Au$^{-}$ catalysis of water conversion to H$_{2}$O$_{2}$, have revealed that the formation of the Au$^{-}$(H$_{2}$O)$_{2}$ anion molecular complex in the transition state, provides the fundamental mechanism for breaking the hydrogen bonding strength in the catalysis of H$_{2}$O$_{2}$ using the Au$^{-}$ ion. Thus, the crucial link between low-energy electron elastic scattering resonances and low-energy chemical reaction dynamics has now been fully established.