Atomic-level polarization in electric fields of defects for electrocatalysis.

The thriving field of atomic defect engineering towards advanced electrocatalysis relies on the critical role of electric field polarization at the atomic scale. While this is proposed theoretically, the spatial configuration, orientation, and correlation with specific catalytic properties of materials are yet to be understood. Here, by targeting monolayer MoS2 rich in atomic defects, we pioneer the direct visualization of electric field polarization of such atomic defects by combining advanced electron microscopy with differential phase contrast technology. It is revealed that the asymmetric charge distribution caused by the polarization facilitates the adsorption of H*, which originally activates the atomic defect sites for catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Then, it has been experimentally proven that atomic-level polarization in electric fields can enhance catalytic HER activity. This work bridges the long-existing gap between the atomic defects and advanced electrocatalysis by directly revealing the angstrom-scale electric field polarization and correlating it with the as-tuned catalytic properties of materials; the methodology proposed here could also inspire future studies focusing on catalytic mechanism understanding and structure-property-performance relationship.

Building up a view and understanding of the multifunctional activity of black phosphorous nanosheet modified with the metal atom.

Constructing metal-semiconductor interfaces by loading metal atoms onto two-dimensional material to build atomically dispersed single-atom catalysts (SACs) has emerged as a new frontier for improving atom utilization and designing multifunctional electrocatalysts. Nowadays, studies on black phosphorus nanosheets in electrocatalysis have received much attention and the successful preparation of metal nanoparticle/black phosphorus (BP) hybrid electrocatalysts indicates BP nanosheets can serve as a potential support platform for SACs. Herein, by using large-scale ab initio calculations, we explored a large composition space of SACs with transition metal atoms supported on BP monolayer (M-BP) and built a comprehensive picture of activity trend, stability, and electronic origin towards oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR and OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The results show that the catalytic activity can be widely tuned by reasonable regulation of metal atoms. Ni-, Pd-, and Pt-BP could effectively balance the binding strength of the target intermediates, thus achieving efficient bifunctional activity for OER and ORR. Favorable bifunctional catalytic performance for OER and HER can be realized on Rh-BP. Especially, Pt-BP exhibits promising trifunctional activity towards OER, ORR, and HER. Multiple-level corrections among overpotential, Gibbs free energy, orbital population, and d-band center reveal that the trend and origin of catalytic activity are intrinsically determined by the d-band center of metal sites. The thermodynamic and dynamic stability simulations demonstrate that the active metal centers are firmly anchored on BP substrate with intact M-P bonds. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the rational design of BP-based SACs toward promising multifunctional activity.

Fast carrier diffusion via synergistic effects between lithium-ions and polarons in rutile TiO2.

Carrier mobility in titanium dioxide (TiO2) systems is a key factor for their application as energy materials, especially in solar cells and lithium-ion batteries. Studies on the diffusion of Li-ions and polarons in rutile TiO2 systems have attracted extensive attention. However, how their interaction affects the diffusion of Li-ions and electron polarons is largely unclear and related studies are relatively lacking. By using first-principles calculations, we systematically investigate the interaction between the intercalated Li-ions and electron polarons in rutile TiO2 materials. Our analysis shows that the diffusion barrier of the electron polarons decreases around the Li-ion. The interaction between the Li-ions and polarons would benefit their synergistic diffusion both in the pristine and defective rutile TiO2 systems. Our study reveals the synergistic effects between the ions and polarons, which is important for understanding the carrier properties in TiO2 systems and in further improving the performance of energy materials.

Understanding the Activity and Design Principle of Dual-Atom Catalysts Supported on C2N for Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions: From Homonuclear to Heteronuclear.

Using large-scale ab initio calculations and taking the two-dimensional C2N monolayer as a substrate, we sampled a large combinatorial space of C2N-supported homonuclear and heteronuclear dual-atom catalysts and built a detailed view of catalytic activity and stability toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The results indicate that regulating combinations of metal pairs could widely tune the catalytic performance. Pd2-, Pt2-, and PdPt-C2N could effectively balance the adsorption strength of intermediates and achieve optimal bifunctional activity. The favorable catalytic performance could also be realized on GaPd-C2N for the ORR and PdRh-C2N for the OER, surpassing corresponding homonuclear counterparts. The thermodynamic and electrochemical stability simulations reveal that these metal pairs can be stably anchored onto the C2N matrix. Multiple-level descriptors, including Gibbs free energy, d-band center, and bonding/antibonding orbital population, are established to track the activity trend and reveal the origin of activity, indicating that catalytic activity is intrinsically governed by the d-band center of metal pairs.

Stack-dependent ion diffusion behavior in two-dimensional bilayer C3B.

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) C-based materials have been intensively studied due to their excellent physicochemical properties. Meanwhile, extensive research has revealed that the electrical properties of layered materials can be tuned by changing the stacking pattern. However, the tuning of ion diffusion properties through stacking remains to be explored. In this work, bilayer C3B with different stackings as a lithium-ion battery anode material is systematically investigated by first-principles calculations. The calculated results show that bilayer C3B has better electronic properties (with a band gap of 0.44 eV to 0.54 eV) and enhanced bonding strength of Li (-2.82 to -3.27 eV) compared to monolayer C3B. Moreover, the intralayer migration barrier of Li can be regulated by stacking. Interestingly, the AB stacked configuration has the lowest migration barrier of 0.100 eV, which is significantly lower than those of other stacking configurations and monolayer C3B. Further studies revealed that the formation of fast ion diffusion channels in the AB stacked configuration is due to the combined effect of layer distance and in-plane charge transfer. These results offer a new strategy for the regulation of ion diffusion properties in 2D van der Waals materials.

Nuclear Quantum Effects on the Charge-Density Wave Transition in NbX2 (X = S, Se).

Understanding the origin of charge-density wave (CDW) instability is important for manipulating novel collective electronic states. Many layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) share similarity in the structural and electronic instability, giving rise to diverse CDW phases and superconductivity. It is still puzzling that even isostructural and isoelectronic TMDs show distinct CDW features. For instance, bulk NbSe2 exhibits CDW order at low temperature, while bulk NbS2 displays no CDW instability. The CDW transitions in single-layer NbS2 and NbSe2 are also different. In the classic limit, we investigate the electron correlation effects on the dimensionality dependence of the CDW ordering. By performing ab initio path integral molecular dynamics simulations and comparative analyses, we further revealed significant nuclear quantum effects in these systems. Specifically, the quantum motion of sulfur anions significantly reduces the CDW transition temperature in both bulk and single-layer NbS2, resulting in distinct CDW features in the NbS2 and NbSe2 systems.

Tuning the Electrocatalytic Properties of Black and Gray Arsenene by Introducing Heteroatoms.

On the basis of density functional theory calculations, we explored the catalytic properties of various heteroatom-doped black and gray arsenene toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The calculation results show that pristine black (b-As) and gray arsenene (g-As) exhibit poor catalytic performance because of too weak intermediate adsorption. Heteroatom doping plays a key role in optimizing catalytic performance. Among the candidate dopants O, C, P, S, and Sb, O is the most promising one used in arsenene to improve the ORR and OER catalytic performance. Embedding O atoms could widely tune the binding strength of reactive intermediates and improve the catalytic activity. Single O-doped g-AsO 1 can achieve efficient bifunctional activity for both the OER and the ORR with optimal potential gap. b-AsO 1 and b-AsO 2 exhibit the optimal OER and ORR catalytic performance, respectively. For the HER, double C-doped g-AsC 2 could tune the adsorption of hydrogen to an optimal value and significantly enhance the catalytic performance. These findings indicate that arsenene could provide a new platform to explore high-efficiency electrocatalysts.

Seamlessly Splicing Metallic Sn x Mo1- x S2 at MoS2 Edge for Enhanced Photoelectrocatalytic Performance in Microreactor.

Accurate design of the 2D metal-semiconductor (M-S) heterostructure via the covalent combination of appropriate metallic and semiconducting materials is urgently needed for fabricating high-performance nanodevices and enhancing catalytic performance. Hence, the lateral epitaxial growth of M-S Sn x Mo1- x S2/MoS2 heterostructure is precisely prepared with in situ growth of metallic Sn x Mo1- x S2 by doping Sn atoms at semiconductor MoS2 edge via one-step chemical vapor deposition. The atomically sharp interface of this heterostructure exhibits clearly distinguished performance based on a series of characterizations. The oxygen evolution photoelectrocatalytic performance of the epitaxial M-S heterostructure is 2.5 times higher than that of pure MoS2 in microreactor, attributed to the efficient electron-hole separation and rapid charge transfer. This growth method provides a general strategy for fabricating seamless M-S lateral heterostructures by controllable doping heteroatoms. The M-S heterostructures show increased carrier migration rate and eliminated Fermi level pinning effect, contributing to their potential in devices and catalytic system.

Ultrathin multi-band coherent perfect absorber in graphene with high-contrast gratings.

High-contrast gratings (HCGs) can be designed as a resonator with high-quality factor and surface-normal emission, which are excellent characters for designing optical devices. In this work, we combine HCGs with plasmonic graphene structure to achieve an ultrathin five-band coherent perfect absorber (CPA). The presented CPA can achieve multi- and narrow-band absorption with high intensity under a relatively large incident angle. The good agreement between theoretical analysis and numerical simulated results demonstrates that our proposed HCGs-based structure is feasible to realize CPA. Besides, by dynamically adjusting the Fermi energy of graphene, we realize the active tunability of resonance frequency and absorption intensity simultaneously. Benefitting from the combination of HCGs and the one-atom thickness of graphene, the proposed device possesses an extremely thin feature. Our work proposes a novel method to manipulate coherent perfect absorption and is helpful to design tunable multi-band and ultrathin absorbers.

Engineering of Electronic States on Co3 O4 Ultrathin Nanosheets by Cation Substitution and Anion Vacancies for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Due to the earth abundance and tunable electronic properties, etc., transition metal oxides (TMOs) show attractive attention in oxygen evolution reaction. O-vacancies (Vo ) play important roles in tailoring the local surface and electronic environment to lower the activation barriers. Herein, an effective strategy is shown to enhance the oxygen evolution reduction (OER) performance on Co3 O4 ultrathin nanosheets via combined cation substitution and anion vacancies. The oxygen-deficient Fe-Co-O nanosheets (3-4 nm thickness) display an overpotential of 260 mV@10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 53 mV dec-1 , outperforming those of the benchmark RuO2 in 1.0 m KOH. Further calculations demonstrate that the combined introduction of Fe cation and Vo with appropriate location and content finely tune the intermediate absorption, consequently lowering the rate-limiting activation energy from 0.82 to as low as 0.15 eV. The feasibility is also proved by oxygen-deficient Ni-Co-O nanosheets. This work not only establishes a clear atomic-level correlation between cation substitution, anion vacancies, and OER performance, but also provides valuable insights for the rational design of highly efficient catalysts for OER.

Ab initio study of the miscibility for solid hydrogen-helium mixtures at high pressure.

Understanding the behavior of H2-He binary mixtures at high pressure is of great importance. Two more recent experiments [J. Lim and C. S. Yoo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 165301 (2018) and R. Turnbull et al., ibid. 121, 195702 (2018)] are in conflict, regarding the miscibility between H2 and He in solids at high pressure. On the basis of first-principles calculations combined with the structure prediction method, we investigate the miscibility for solid H2-He mixtures at pressures from 0 GPa to 200 GPa. It is found that there is no sign of miscibility and chemical reactivity in H2-He mixtures with any H:He ratio. Moreover, instead of H2-He mixtures, the calculated Raman modes of the N-H mixtures can better explain the characteristic peaks observed experimentally, which were claimed to be the H-He vibrational modes. These calculation results are more in line with the experimental findings by Turnbull et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 195702 (2018)].

Chemically modified phosphorene as efficient catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction.

Hydrogen gas produced by electrolysis has been considered as an excellent alternative to fossil fuels. Developing non-noble metal catalysts with high electrocatalytic activities is an effective way to reduce the cost of hydrogen production. Recently, black phosphorus (BP) based materials have been reported to have good potential as electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we systematically study the catalytic performance of monolayer BP (phosphorene) and several chemically modified phosphorenes (N/S/C/O doping and adsorbed NH2/OH functional groups) for HER on the basis of first-principles calculations. For pristine phosphorene, the armchair edge shows much better catalytic activity than the plane site and zigzag edge. The electronic states of phosphorene near the Fermi level are strongly influenced by chemical modifications. Both of doping heteroatoms into the lattice and introducing NH2/OH functional groups can effectively improve the catalytic performance of the plane site and zigzag edge site, but slightly degrade the armchair edge. These theoretical results shed light on the microscopic understanding of the active sites in BP based electrocatalysts for HER and pave the way for further improving their catalytic performance.

Bidirectional and dynamically tunable THz absorber with Dirac semimetal.

Traditional absorbers are usually sandwich structures in which a metallic ground plane is employed to prevent the transmission. Such absorbers suffer from a major drawback that incident light can only irradiate from the front of the absorbers. In this paper, a novel absorber with bulk Dirac semimetal (BDS)-AlCuFe quasicrystals is proposed to realize bidirectional and dynamically tunable terahertz (THz) perfect absorption. The proposed structure consists of two layers of AlCuFe plates with rectangular apertures and a dielectric spacer. By adjusting transverse distance between the top and bottom rectangular apertures, perfect absorption could be realized under TM polarization. Simulation results show that perfect absorption can be obtained whether light irradiates from the front or back of the system, indicating a performance of bidirectional absorption. In addition, benefiting from the variable Fermi level of AlCuFe, the resonance frequency can be dynamically tuned in the THz range. Our work will stimulate more investigations on BDS-based bidirectional absorbers and optical modulators.

Doping single transition metal atom into PtTe sheet for catalyzing nitrogen reduction and hydrogen evolution reactions.

We systematically explored the catalytic performance of a novel two dimensional material PtTe sheet for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by using first-principles calculation. Although pristine PtTe shows poor NRR and HER activity, doping transition metal (TM) atoms into the lattice could effectively enhance the catalytic performance. Calculations show that four TM doped structures, including W-Pt18Te17, Ru-Pt18Te17, Mo-Pt18Te17, and Cr-Pt18Te17, are promising NRR catalysts on the prerequisite of whose HER activities are effectively suppressed. Moreover, the HER performance of the PtTe sheet could also be significantly improved with introduced TM atoms. In particular, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, Mo, Rh, Ru, and Tc atoms supported by the PtTe sheet with Te-vacancy are promising HER electrocatalysts. The improved HER performance is attributed to the reduced adsorption free energy of the H atom. Both the doped TM atoms and the adjacent Pt atoms are effective active sites. Among all considered structures, Mo-, Cr-, and Ru-Pt18Te17 sheets boost catalytic activity for both NRR and HER. This study provides new design strategies to enhance the catalytic performance of the PtTe sheet for the NRR/HER.

Synergy of tellurium and defects in control of activity of phosphorene for oxygen evolution and reduction reactions.

Developing low-cost and metal-free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is desirable for renewable energy technologies. Recent experiments show that tellurium (Te) atoms can be effectively doped into black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets, and they greatly improve its OER catalytic performance. However, the specific active sites and microscopic configurations in the atomic-scale are still ambiguous. Here, we show that the doped Te atoms prefer to bond with each other to form clusters in phosphorene and they can be further stabilized by various intrinsic defects (Stone-Wales, single vacancy defects and zigzag nanoribbon). Benefiting from the reduced binding strength of O*, Te dopants and intrinsic defects synergistically boost the catalytic activity of phosphorene. The best OER catalytic activity could be realized in the cluster SW2-Te1p (Stone-Wales defect decorated by one Te atom). For ORR, the cluster Pri-Te3p (pristine phosphorene decorated by three Te atoms) exhibits optimal catalytic activity. Calculated ORR/OER potential gaps indicate that the SW2-Te3p cluster most likely acts as the efficient bifunctional catalytic site for both ORR and OER.

Shape-Engineered Synthesis of Atomically Thin 1T-SnS2 Catalyzed by Potassium Halides.

Shape engineering plays a crucial role in the application of two-dimensional (2D) layered metal dichalcogenide (LMD) crystalline materials in terms of physical and chemical property modulation. However, controllable growth of 1T phase tin disulfide (SnS2) with multifarious morphologies has rarely been reported and remains challenging. Herein, we report a direct synthesis of large-size, uniform, and atomically thin 1T-SnS2 with multiple morphologies by adding potassium halides via a facile chemical vapor deposition process. A variety of morphologies, i.e., from hexagon, triangle, windmill, and dendritic to coralloid, corresponding to fractal dimensions from 1.01 to 1.81 are accurately controlled by growth conditions. Moreover, the Sn concentration controls the morphology change of SnS2. The edge length of the SnS2 dendritic flake can grow larger than 500 µm in 5 min. Potassium halides can significantly reduce the surface migration barrier of the SnS2 cluster and enhance the SnS2 adhesion force with substrate to facilitate efficient high in-plane growth of monolayer SnS2 compared to sodium halides by density functional theory calculations. More branched SnS2 with higher fractal dimension provides more active sites for enhancing hydrogen evolution reactions. Importantly, we prove that potassium halides are preferable for 1T-phase LMDs structures, while sodium halides are more suitable for 2H-phase materials. The growth mechanism proposed here provides a general approach for controllable-phase synthesis of 2D LMD crystals and related heterostructures. Shape engineering of 2D materials also provides a strategy to tune LMD properties for demanding applications.

Tuning the Catalytic Property of Phosphorene for Oxygen Evolution and Reduction Reactions by Changing Oxidation Degree.

The development of inexpensive metal-free catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is highly desirable for fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Black phosphorus (BP), as a new kind of two-dimensional (2D) layer material, has recently shown excellent OER electrocatalytic activity. However, atomistic understanding of the catalytic mechanism is lacking. Here, on the basis of ab initio calculations, we find that pristine phosphorene shows poor ORR/OER performances. However, oxidation can effectively tune the adsorption strength of reactive intermediates and thus change its OER/ORR electrocatalytic performance. For OER, the higher the local oxidation degree ( DlocalO) of phosphorene, the better the OER activity. Therefore, the oxidized phosphorene site with highest DlocalO shows the best OER catalytic property. In contrast, there exists an optimum DlocalO for ORR. These findings provide new insights for better understanding and improving the catalytic performances of BP-based electrocatalysts and could stimulate more theoretical and experimental studies in this area.

Bifunctional mechanism of N, P co-doped graphene for catalyzing oxygen reduction and evolution reactions.

The development of bifunctional catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is highly desirable for fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Till now, it is still challenging to achieve both efficient activities on a single commercial noble-metal catalyst. Recently, N, P co-doped graphene has shown good bifunctional evidence. However, the atomic-scale understanding of the bifunctional mechanism is still lacking. Here, we show that the N and P atoms prefer to bond with each other, forming embedded N-P clusters in graphene. The catalytic performances of the N-P clusters are sensitive to their geometries, especially the N:P ratios. The N:P ratio of ∼2 is optimal for OER, while ∼3 is optimal for ORR. Through evaluating the ORR/OER potential gaps, we found that the N-P cluster designated as NC 2PC 1 shows both the high performances of ORR and OER, responsible for the unique bifunctionality in the N, P co-doped graphene.

Ab initio study of the moisture stability of lead iodine perovskites.

The stability of hybrid lead iodine perovskite in a humid environment has been a major obstacle to developing long-term photovoltaic devices. However, understanding the detailed degradation mechanism of lead iodine perovskite in moisture is still challenging. Herein, using first-principles calculations, we show that embedded water molecules will facilitate the decomposition of lead iodine perovskite. Alloying FAPbI3 and CsPbI3 to form mixed-cation lead iodine perovskites not only can optimize the tolerance factor to obtain better phase stability, but also can improve the moisture stability of them. With the accumulation of water molecules in the perovskite lattice, the optical absorption spectra show a blue-shift and decreased intensity, and the moisture stabilities of lead iodine perovskites are further lowered. The iodine vacancy in lead iodine perovskites can facilitate the water molecule migration and thus is a disadvantage in improving the moisture stability of them, which should be minimized during perovskite growth. These findings provide new insight in understanding the poor moisture stability of lead iodine perovskites, which should be helpful for the future design and optimization of stable perovskite solar cells.

The vertical growth of MoS2 layers at the initial stage of CVD from first-principles.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is the highly preferred method for mass production of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) layers, yet the atomic-scale knowledge is still lacking about the nucleation and growth. In this study, by using first-principles calculations, we show that, on Au(111) surface, one-dimensional (1D) MoxSy chains are first formed by coalescing of smaller feeding species and are energetically favored at the early stage of nucleation. Two-dimensional (2D) layers can be stabilized only after the number of Mo atoms exceeds ∼12. A vertical growth mode is revealed which accomplishes the structural transformation from the 1D chains to the 2D layers for the clusters while growing. The competition between intralayer and interlayer interactions is the key. These findings serve as new insights for better understanding the atomistic mechanism of the nucleation and growth of TMDs on the surface.