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Wang Z, Wu M, Huang Y, Zhang J, Wei X. The regulatory function of the d-orbital structure in TM@g-t-C 4N 3 for bifunctional catalysis of the oxygen evolution/reduction reaction. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 26:558-568. [PMID: 38086652 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp04249a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Highly efficient catalysts for the oxygen evolution/reduction reaction (OER/ORR) have attracted great attention in research for energy devices with high conversion efficiency. Herein, systematic first-principles investigations are performed to explore the catalytic performance of graphitic C4N3 loaded with single transition metal atoms (TM@g-t-C4N3) for the OER/ORR. The results show that Fe, Co, Ni and Rh@g-t-C4N3 exhibit fascinating bifunctional catalytic activities for both the OER and ORR. Moreover, it is observed that better activities are easily achieved when the valence d orbitals of doped TM atoms are nearly fully occupied. Further analysis reveals the volcano relationship between the OER/ORR performance and the adsorption Gibbs free energy. The adsorption free energy of intermediates in the OER/ORR process is also found to highly correlate with the electronic structures of TM@g-t-C4N3, which are mainly characterized by two quantities, one is the descriptor φ related to the electronegativity and the number of valence electrons in d orbitals, and the other is the projected d band center. The results indicate that it is possible to predict the catalytic performance of TM@g-t-C4N3 by a detailed examination of the electronic properties of the doped TM atoms to some extent. This research not only provides several highly active g-t-C4N3-based single-atom catalysts (SACs) for the OER/ORR, but also reveals some potential regularities of SAC systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenduo Wang
- School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
| | - Meichen Wu
- School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
| | - Yuhong Huang
- School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
| | - Jianmin Zhang
- School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
| | - Xiumei Wei
- School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
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Xue Z, Tan R, Wang H, Tian J, Wei X, Hou H, Zhao Y. A novel tetragonal T-C 2N supported transition metal atoms as superior bifunctional catalysts for OER/ORR: From coordination environment to rational design. J Colloid Interface Sci 2023; 651:149-158. [PMID: 37542890 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.07.128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023]
Abstract
Single-atom catalysts with particular electronic structures and precisely regulated coordination environments delivering excellent activity for oxygen-evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) are highly desirable for renewable energy applications. In this work, a novel tetragonal carbon nitride T-C2N monolayer with remarkable stability was predicted by using the RG2 method. Inspired by the well-defined atomic structures and just right N4 aperture of T-C2N substrate, the electrocatalytic performance of a series of transition metal single-atoms anchored on porous T-C2N matrix (TM@C2N) have been systematically investigated. In addition, machine learning (ML) method was employed with the gradient boosting regression GBR model to deeply explore the complex controlling factors and offer direct guidance for rational discovery of desirable catalysts. On this basis, the coordination environment of the central TM active sites has been tailored by incorporating heteroatoms. Impressively, the Co@C2N/B-C, Rh@C2N/SC and Rh@C2N/SN exhibit significantly enhanced OER/ORR activity with notably low ηOER/ηORR of 0.39/0.32, 0.26/0.35 and 0.37/0.27 V, respectively. Our work provides insights into the rational design, data-driven, performance regulation, mechanism analysis and practical application of TMNC catalysts. Such a systematic theoretical framework can also be expanded to many other kinds of catalysts for energy storage and conversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Xue
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province for High-performance Al/Mg Alloy Materials, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
| | - Rui Tan
- Physics and Electronic Engineering, Hengyang Normal University, Hengyang 421002, China
| | - Hongxia Wang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province for High-performance Al/Mg Alloy Materials, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
| | - Jinzhong Tian
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province for High-performance Al/Mg Alloy Materials, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
| | - Xiaolin Wei
- Physics and Electronic Engineering, Hengyang Normal University, Hengyang 421002, China.
| | - Hua Hou
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province for High-performance Al/Mg Alloy Materials, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
| | - Yuhong Zhao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province for High-performance Al/Mg Alloy Materials, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; Institute for Materials Intelligent Technology, Liaoning Academy of Materials, Shenyang 110010, China.
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