A grand-canonical approach is employed to calculate the voltage-dependent activation energy and estimate the kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on intrinsic sites of MoS2, including ...edges of varying S-coverage as well as S-vacancies on the basal plane. Certain edge configurations are found to be vastly more active than others, namely S-deficient edges on the Mo-termination where, in the fully S-depleted case, HER can proceed with activation energy below 0.5 eV at an electrode potential of 0 V vs. SHE. There is a clear distinction between the performance of Mo-rich and S-rich adsorption sites, as HER at the latter sites is characterized by large (generally above 1.5 eV) Heyrovsky and Tafel energy barriers despite near-thermoneutral hydrogen adsorption energy. Thus, exposing Mo-atoms on the edges to which hydrogen can directly bind is crucial for efficient hydrogen evolution. While S-vacancies on the basal plane do expose Mo-rich sites, the energy barriers are still significant due to high coordination of the Mo atoms. Kinetic modelling based on the voltage-dependent reaction energetics gives a theoretical overpotential of 0.25 V and 1.09 V for the Mo-edge with no S atoms and the weakly sulfur-deficient (2% S-vacancies) basal plane, respectively, with Volmer–Heyrovsky being the dominant pathway. These values coincide well with reported experimentally measured values of the overpotential for the edges and basal plane. For the partly Mo-exposed edges, the calculated overpotential is 0.6–0.7 V while edges with only S-sites give overpotential exceeding that of the basal plane. These results show that the overpotential systematically decreases with increased sulfur-deficiency and reduced Mo-coordination. The fundamental difference between Mo- and S-rich sites suggests that catalyst design of transition metal dichalcogenides should be focused on facilitating and modifying the metal sites, rather than activating the chalcogen sites.
The ubiquitous (Al,Si,Mg)-nitride has been the focus of recent investigations of spheroidal graphite irons. In particular, because they have been systematically found in the nucleus of graphite ...spheroids. Despite having a similar crystal structure as graphite, their lattice parameter is vastly different. Since the crystallographic match is mainly used to justify the potential of nucleation sites, challenges have been encountered to explain the mechanism of graphite nucleation in this type of inclusion (microparticle). The present work reports the structure, composition, and interactions of these (Al,Si,Mg)-nitrides with graphite and other compounds, such as (Zr,Ti,Nb)-carbonitrides. The latter were the only inclusions with Zr that could be found, while the former inclusion could also be found in the core of graphite. The results confirm that the graphite layers close to the surface of the (Al,Si,Mg)-nitrides have a turbostratic structure. Organized graphite layers are only observed far away from the nitride nucleus. Density functional theory simulations of this interface showed that the interaction between the first graphene layers and the (Al,Si,Mg)-nitrides has a covalent nature, which could explain the turbostratic structure of the inner part of the graphite nodule. Therefore, nucleation of graphite on nuclei with a large lattice mismatch (low planar misfit) may be facilitated by the covalent bonding of carbon atoms on this substrate. These results explain the observed disorder at the interface as well as the deformation of the graphene layers.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Transition metal dichalcogenides are cheap and earth-abundant candidates for the replacement of precious metals as catalyst materials. Experimental measurements of the hydrogen evolution reaction ...(HER), for example, have demonstrated significant electrocatalytic activity of MoS2 but there is large variation depending on the preparation method. In order to gain information about the mechanism and active sites for the HER, we have carried out calculations of the reaction and activation energy for HER at the transition metal doped basal plane of MoS2 under electrochemical conditions, i.e. including applied electrode potential and solvent effects. The calculations are based on identifying the relevant saddle points on the energy surface obtained from density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation, and the information on energetics is used to construct voltage-dependent volcano plots. Doping with 3d-metal atoms as well as Pt is found to enhance hydrogen adsorption onto the basal plane by introducing electronic states within the band gap, and in some cases (Co, Ni, Cu, Pt) significant local symmetry breaking. The Volmer–Heyrovsky mechanism is found to be most likely and the associated energetics show considerable dopant and voltage-dependence. While the binding free energy of hydrogen can be tuned to be seemingly favorable for HER, the calculated activation energy turns out to be significant, at least 0.7 eV at a voltage of −0.5 V vs. SHE, indicating low catalytic activity of the doped basal plane. This suggests that other sites are responsible for the experimental activity, possibly edges or basal plane defects.
A comprehensive theoretical study of a Au15Cu15 cluster on MgO(100) supports and its catalytic activity for CO oxidation has been performed based on the density functional theory and microkinetic ...modeling. Molecular adsorption and different reaction paths based on the Langmuir–Hinshelwood (LH) and Eley–Rideal (ER) mechanisms have been explored by tuning the location of vacancies in MgO(100). The charge states of the Au15Cu15 cluster are negative on all supports, defect-free, O-vacancy (F-center), and Mg-vacancy (V-center), and the effect is significantly amplified on the F-center. In each case, the O2 molecule can be effectively activated upon adsorption and dissociated to 2 × O atoms easily, and the reaction modeling takes into account also the reaction paths with adsorbed O atoms. Overall, CO oxidation has lower reaction barriers on the cluster on the F-center. The microkinetic modeling analysis reveals that CO oxidation is very sensitive to the CO partial pressure, as the relatively strong CO binding leads readily to CO poisoning of the cluster surface sites and hinders CO2 formation. For low CO partial pressures, the catalytic reaction takes place already at 150 K for the cluster on the F-center. The CO2 production rates are much lower for the defect-free and V-center supports which display similar increased activity at elevated temperatures. In all cases, the right combination of CO and O2 partial pressures is instrumental for CO2 production.
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While the amorphous state of a chalcogenide phase-change material is formed inside an electronic-memory device via Joule heating, caused by an applied voltage pulse, it is in the presence of excess ...field-induced electrons and holes. Here, hybrid density-functional-theory calculations for glassy Ge2Sb2Te5 demonstrate that extra electrons are trapped spontaneously, creating deep traps in the band gap. Hole self-trapping is also energetically favourable, producing states around midgap. The traps have a relatively low ionization energy, indicating that they can easily be thermally released. Near-linear triatomic Te–Ge/Sb–Te/Ge/Sb environments are the structural motifs where the extra electrons/holes are trapped inside the glass network, highlighting that the intrinsic axial bonds of octahedral-like sites in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 can serve as charge-trapping centres. Trapping of two electrons in a chain-like structure of connected triads results in breaking of some of these highly polarizable long bonds. These results establish the foundations of the origin of charge trapping in amorphous phase-change materials, and they may have important implications for our understanding of resistance drift in electronic-memory devices and of electronic-excitation-induced athermal melting.
Because of the small size and large surface area of thiolate-protected Au nanoclusters (NCs), the protecting ligands are expected to play a substantial role in modulating the structure and ...properties, particularly in the solution phase. However, little is known on how thiolate ligands explicitly modulate the structural properties of the NCs at atomic level, even though this information is critical for predicting the performance of Au NCs in application settings including as a catalyst interacting with small molecules and as a sensor interacting with biomolecular systems. Here, we report a combined experimental and theoretical study, using synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations, that investigates how the protecting ligands impact the structure and properties of small Au18(SR)14 NCs. Two representative ligand types, smaller aliphatic cyclohexanethiolate and larger hydrophilic glutathione, are selected, and their structures are followed experimentally in both solid and solution phases. It was found that cyclohexanethiolate ligands are significantly perturbed by toluene solvent molecules, resulting in structural changes that cause disorder on the surface of Au18(SR)14 NCs. In particular, large surface cavities in the ligand shell are created by interactions between toluene and cyclohexanethiolate. The appearance of these small molecule-accessible sites on the NC surface demonstrates the ability of Au NCs to act as a catalyst for organic phase reactions. In contrast, glutathione ligands encapsulate the Au NC core via intermolecular interactions, minimizing structural changes caused by interactions with water molecules. The much better protection from glutathione ligands imparts a rigidified surface and ligand structure, making the NCs desirable for biomedical applications due to the high stability and also offering a structural-based explanation for the enhanced photoluminescence often reported for glutathione-protected Au NCs.
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Polyoxometalates (POMs) represent crucial intermediates in the formation of insoluble metal oxides from soluble metal ions, however, the rapid hydrolysis‐condensation kinetics of MoVI or WVI makes ...the direct characterization of coexisted molecular species in a given medium extremely difficult. Silver nanoclusters have shown versatile capacity to encapsulate diverse POMs, which provides an alternative scene to appreciate landscape of POMs in atomic precision. Here, we report a thiacalix4arene protected silver nanocluster (Ag72b) that simultaneously encapsulates three kinds of molybdates (MoO42−, Mo6O228− and Mo7O258−) in situ transformed from classic Lindqvist Mo6O192−, providing more deep understanding on the structural diversity and condensation growth route of POMs in solution. Ag72b is the first silver nanocluster trapping so many kinds of molybdates, which in turn exert collective template effect to aggregate silver atoms into a nanocluster. The post‐reaction of Ag72b with AgOAc or PhCOOAg produces a discrete Ag24 nanocluster (Ag24a) or an Ag28 nanocluster based 1D chain structure (Ag28a), respectively. Moreover, the post‐synthesized Ag28a can be utilized as potential ignition material for further application. This work not only provides an important model for unlocking dynamic features of POMs at atom‐precise level but also pioneers a promising approach to synthesize silver nanoclusters from known to unknown.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
We uncover the electronic structure of molecular graphene produced by adsorbed CO molecules on a copper (111) surface by means of first-principles calculations. Our results show that the band ...structure is fundamentally different from that of conventional graphene, and the unique features of the electronic states arise from coexisting honeycomb and Kagome symmetries. Furthermore, the Dirac cone does not appear at the K-point but at the Γ-point in the reciprocal space and is accompanied by a third, almost flat band. Calculations of the surface structure with Kekulé distortion show a gap opening at the Dirac point in agreement with experiments. Simple tight-binding models are used to support the first-principles results and to explain the physical characteristics behind the electronic band structures.
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Using the density functional theory of electronic structure, we compute the anisotropic dielectric response of bulk black phosphorus subject to strain. Employing the obtained permittivity tensor, we ...solve Maxwell's equations and study the electromagnetic response of a layered structure comprising a film of black phosphorus stacked on a metallic substrate. Our results reveal that a small compressive or tensile strain, ≈ 4 % , exerted either perpendicular or in the plane to the black phosphorus growth direction, efficiently controls the epsilon-near-zero response and allows perfect absorption tuning from low angle of the incident beam θ = 0 ∘ to high values θ ≈ 90 ∘ while switching the energy flow direction. Incorporating the spatially inhomogeneous strain model, we also find that for certain thicknesses of the black phosphorus, near-perfect absorption can be achieved through controlled variations of the in-plane strain. These findings can serve as guidelines for designing largely tunable perfect electromagnetic wave absorber devices.
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