We propose and investigate computationally Ag-Au subnanometer clusters as catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Focusing on Ag12Au, we conduct a complete first-principles study of the HER process on this Au@Ag ultrananocatalyst. After determining the hydrogen-saturated resting state under standard conditions as Ag12AuH11, HER reaction energies and barriers are predicted also including solvent effects using both implicit and explicit models. We find that Ag12Au is a good candidate as a HER catalyst, with good stability and an overall reaction energy barrier of 0.89 eV as an upper bound. We also draw indications for the design of HER subnanometer catalysts.
Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on Au@Ag ultrananoclusters as electro-catalysts
Sementa L;Fortunelli Alessandro
2018
Abstract
We propose and investigate computationally Ag-Au subnanometer clusters as catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Focusing on Ag12Au, we conduct a complete first-principles study of the HER process on this Au@Ag ultrananocatalyst. After determining the hydrogen-saturated resting state under standard conditions as Ag12AuH11, HER reaction energies and barriers are predicted also including solvent effects using both implicit and explicit models. We find that Ag12Au is a good candidate as a HER catalyst, with good stability and an overall reaction energy barrier of 0.89 eV as an upper bound. We also draw indications for the design of HER subnanometer catalysts.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.