Tailoring local structures of atomically dispersed copper sites for highly selective CO_(2) electroreduction

Atomically‐dispersed copper sites coordinated with nitrogen‐doped carbon(Cu–N–C)can provide novel possibilities to enable highly selective and active electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reactions.However,the construction of optimal local electronic structures for nitrogen‐coordinated Cu sites(Cu–N_(4))on carbon remains challenging.Here,we synthesized the Cu–N–C catalysts with atomically‐dispersed edge‐hosted Cu–N_(4) sites(Cu–N_(4)C_(8))located in a micropore between two graphitic sheets via a facile method to control the concentration of metal precursor.Edge‐hosted Cu–N_(4)C_(8) catalysts outperformed the previously reported M–N–C catalysts for CO_(2)‐to‐CO conversion,achieving a maximum CO Faradaic efficiency(FECO)of 96%,a CO current density of–8.97 mA cm^(–2) at–0.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE),and over FECO of 90%from–0.6 to–1.0 V versus RHE.Computational studies revealed that the micropore of the graphitic layer in edge‐hosted Cu–N_(4)C_(8) sites causes the d‐orbital energy level of the Cu atom to shift upward,which in return decreases the occupancy of antibonding states in the*COOH binding.This research suggests new insights into tailoring the locally coordinated structure of the electrocatalyst at the atomic scale to achieve highly selective electrocatalytic reactions.

Ab initio Molecular Dynamics Study of Local Atomic Structure Evolution of U–Zr Alloy Melts upon Solidification

We study the local atomic structure evolution of UZr and UZr_(2) alloy melts upon solidification through ab initio molecular dynamics simulations.This is achieved by analyzing in detail the temperature dependence of structure factors,pair correlation functions,the bond angle distributions,Honeycutt-Anderson index and Voronoi tessellation analysis as well as local bond orientation order parameters.We observe that as the temperature decreases the pair correlation functions and structure factors become more structured with clear distinctions at the liquid–solid phase transition temperature.The Honeycutt-Anderson indices and Voronoi tessellation analysis indicate that the liquid phase is predominantly comprised of the icosahedra-like local structures,whose fraction increases with decreasing temperature up to the transition temperature and then abruptly drops at the transition temperature,whereas the bcc-like local atomic structures dominate during the solidification process.Furthermore,the bond orientation order analyses with\({\overline{w}}_{6}\)–\({\overline{q}}_{6}\)correlation map and bond angle distribution imply that the local structures mainly consist of the bcc-type during the solidification below the transition temperature.All the analyses are consistent with each other,showing a first-order liquid to solid phase transition for both UZr and UZr_(2) solid solutions,which only differ in different predicted transition temperatures.This work provides a comprehensive insight into the detailed local structure evolution during the solidification of the U–Zr alloy melts at the atomic level.Similar strategies used here can be extended to studying the liquid–solid phase transition in other alloy systems.

Manipulating metal-oxygen local atomic structures in singlejunctional p-Si/WO_(3) photocathodes for efficient solar hydrogen generation

Self-passivation in aqueous solution and sluggish surface reaction kinetics significantly limit the photoelectrochemical(PEC)performances of silicon-based photoelectrodes.Herein,a WO_(3) thin layer is deposited on the p-Si substrate by pulsed laser deposition(PLD),acting as a photocathode for PEC hydrogen generation.Compared to bare p-Si,the single-junctional p-Si/WO_(3) photoelectrodes exhibit excellent and stable PEC performances with significantly increased cathodic photocurrent density and exceptional anodic shift in onset potential for water reduction.It is revealed that the WO_(3) layer could reduce the charge transfer resistance across the electrode/electrolyte interface by eliminating the effect of Fermi level pinning on the surface of p-Si.More importantly,by varying the oxygen pressures during PLD,the collaborative modulation of W–O bond covalency and WO6 octahedral structure symmetry contributes to the promoted charge carrier transport and separation.Meanwhile,a large band bending at the p-Si/WO_(3) junction,induced by the optimized O vacancy contents in WO_(3),could provide a photovoltage as high as~500 mV to efficiently drive charge transfer to overcome the water reduction overpotential.Synergistically,by manipulating W–O local atomic structures in the deposited WO_(3) layer,a great improvement in PEC performance could be achieved over the singlejunctional p-Si/WO_(3) photocathodes for solar hydrogen generation.

Study of structural and magnetic properties of Fe(80)P-9B(11) amorphous alloy by ab initio molecular dynamic simulation

The structural and magnetic properties of Fe80P9B11 amorphous alloy are investigated through ab initio molecular dynamic simulation. The structure evolution of Fe（80）P9B（11） amorphous alloy can be described in the framework of topological fluctuation theory, and the fluctuation of atomic hydrostatic stress gradually decreases upon cooling. The left sub peak of the second peak of Fe–B partial pair distribution functions（PDFs） becomes pronounced below the glass transition temperature, which may be the major reason why B promotes the glass formation ability significantly. The magnetization mainly originates from Fe 3d states, while small contribution results from metalloid elements P and B. This work may be helpful for developing Fe-based metallic glasses with both high saturation flux density and glass formation ability.

Local structure of Co_(55)Ta_(10)B_(35) amorphous alloy investigated by ab-initio molecular dynamics

Ab-initio molecular dynamics simulation was performed to investigate the local atomic structure of Co55Ta^0B35 alloys. Pair distribution function, coordination number, HA index and Voronoi polyhedra were used to describe the detailed local structure of this alloy. It was revealed Co7TalB2, Co6TalB2 and CosTa2B4 among the dominant （0 3 6 0）, （0 4 4 0）, （0 1 10 2） and （0 3 6 4） polyhedra were the basic local structure units in CossTal0B3s amorphous alloy. Furthermore, most of the dominant poly- hedra tended to have Ta atoms involved and these polyhedra may have a critical role during glass formation.

Novel Soft Magnetic Co-Based Ternary Co-Er-B Bulk Metallic Glasses

In this work,a series of Co-based ternary Co-Er-B bulk metallic glasses(BMGs)with excellent soft magnetic properties and high strength were developed,and the local atomic structure of a typical Co_(71.5)Er_(3.5)B_(25) metallic glass was studied through in situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations.The results reveal that the BMG samples can be obtained in a composition region of Co_(68.5-71.5)Er_(3.5-4)B_(25-27.5) by a conventional copper-mold casting method.The Co-Er-B metallic glasses possess stronger atomic bond strengths and denser local atomic packing structure composed of a higher fraction of icosahedral-like clusters but fewer deformed body-centered cubic and crystal-like polyhedrons,and they exhibit slower atomic diffusion behaviors during solidification,as compared to Co-Y-B counterparts.The enhancement in structural stability and the retardation of atomic-ordered diffusion lead to the better glass-forming ability of the Co-Er-B alloys.The smaller magnetic anisotropy energy in the Co-Er-B metallic glasses results in a lower coercivity of less than 1.3 A/m.The Co-Er-B BMGs exhibit high-yield strength of 3560-3969 MPa along with distinct plasticity of around 0.50%.

Structural Origins for Enhanced Thermal Stability and Glass‑Forming Ability of Co–B Metallic Glasses with Y and Nb Addition

The effects of Y and Nb addition on thermal stability,glass-forming ability(GFA),and magnetic softness of Co75B25 metallic glass(MG)were comprehensively investigated.The experimental results indicated that the thermal stability,GFA,and magnetic softness of the studied MGs increase in the order Co_(75)B_(25)<Co_(73)Nb_(2)B_(25)<Co_(71.5)Y_(3.5)B_(25)<Co_(69.5)Y_(3.5)Nb_(2)B_(25).The structural origins of the improved properties were revealed by ab initio molecular dynamics(AIMD)simulations and density functional theory(DFT)calculations.Results showed that the B-centered prism units are the primary structure-forming units of the four MGs,connect through vertex-,edge-,and face-shared(VS,ES,and FS)atoms,and Co-centered units tend to connect with Co/B-centered units via the intercross-shared(IS)atoms.The addition of Y and Nb not only plays the role of connecting atoms but also enhances both bond strengths and the fractions of icosahedral-like units in increasing order Co_(75)B_(25)<Co_(73)Nb_(2)B_(25)<Co_(71.5)Y_(3.5)B_(25)<Co_(69.5)Y_(3.5)Nb_(2)B_(25),which is conducive to the enhancement of the structural stability,atomic packing density,and viscosity,thereby improving thermal stability and GFA.In addition,the improvement of structural stability and homogeneity leads to enhanced magnetic softness.

A first-principle study of the structural and electronic properties of amorphous Cu-Zr alloys

The atomic and electronic structures of amorphous CuxZr100-x(x=36,46,50,56,64) alloys were simulated using first-principle calculations within a 400-atom supercell.The pair correlation function,coordination numbers,local cluster structures and electronic density of states were analyzed.Reasonable agreements between the theory and the experiments were obtained.The amorphous alloys exhibit different local cluster structures and can all be explained with cluster formulas [cluster](glue)1,3,where the clusters are derived from known Cu-Zr compounds.There is always a pseudogap in the density of state at the Fermi level.