  The DFT/vdW-WF2s1 method, recently developed to include the van der Waals
interactions in the Density Functional Theory and describe adsorption processes
on metal surfaces by taking metal-screening effects into account, is applied to
the case of the interaction of Xe and graphene with a transition-metal surface,
namely Ni(111). In general the adsorption of rare-gas atoms on metal surfaces
is important because is prototypical for physisorption processes. Moreover, the
interaction of graphene with Ni(111) is of particular interest for practical
applications (efficient and large-scale production of high-quality graphene)
and, from a theoretical point of view, is particularly challenging, since it
can be described by a delicate interplay between chemisorption and
physisorption processes. The first-principles simulation of transition metals
require particular care also because they can be viewed as intermediate systems
between simple metals and insulating crystals. Even in these cases the method
performs well as demonstrated by comparing our results with available
experimental data and other theoretical investigations. We confirm that the
rare gas Xe atom is preferentially adsorbed on the top-site configuration on
the Ni(111) surface too. Our approach based on the use of the Maximally
Localized Wannier Functions also allow us to well characterize the bonds
between graphene and Ni(111).
