Alloy design based on single–principal-element systems has approached its limit for performance enhancements. A substantial increase in strength up to gigapascal levels typically causes the premature failure of materials with reduced ductility. Here, we report a strategy to break this trade-off by controllably introducing high-density ductile multicomponent intermetallic nanoparticles (MCINPs) in complex alloy systems. Distinct from the intermetallic-induced embrittlement under conventional wisdom, such MCINP-strengthened alloys exhibit superior strengths of 1.5 gigapascals and ductility as high as 50% in tension at ambient temperature. The plastic instability, a major concern for high-strength materials, can be completely eliminated by generating a distinctive multistage work-hardening behavior, resulting from pronounced dislocation activities and deformation-induced microbands. This MCINP strategy offers a paradigm to develop next-generation materials for structural applications.

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MXenes are attracting much attention as electrode materials due to their excellent energy storage properties and electrical conductivity, and the energy storage capacities were found to strongly depend on the surface terminal groups. Here S-functionalized TiC as a representative MXene material is designed. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to investigate the geometric and electronic properties, dynamic stability, and Na storage capability of TiC, TiCO and TiCS systems. The TiCS monolayer is proved to show metallic behavior and has a stable structure, and meanwhile it also exhibits a low diffusion barrier and high storage capacity (up to TiCSNa stoichiometry) for Na ion batteries (NIBs). The superior properties such as good electrical conductivity, fast charge-discharge rates, low open circuit voltage (OCV), and high theoretical Na storage capacity, make the TiCS monolayer a promising anode material for NIBs compared to the TiCO monolayer. More importantly, similar to the TiCS monolayer, other MXenes with a high charge density difference and suitable lattice constant can be formed, and thus the energy storage properties are worth further study. This finding will be useful to the design of anode materials for NIBs.

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Advanced electrocatalysts with low platinum content, high activity and durability for the oxygen reduction reaction can benefit the widespread commercial use of fuel cell technology. Here, we report a platinum-trimer decorated cobalt-palladium core-shell nanocatalyst with a low platinum loading of only 2.4 wt% for the use in alkaline fuel cell cathodes. This ternary catalyst shows a mass activity that is enhanced by a factor of 30.6 relative to a commercial platinum catalyst, which is attributed to the unique charge localization induced by platinum-trimer decoration. The high stability of the decorated trimers endows the catalyst with an outstanding durability, maintaining decent electrocatalytic activity with no degradation for more than 322,000 potential cycles in alkaline electrolyte. These findings are expected to be useful for surface engineering and design of advanced fuel cell catalysts with atomic-scale platinum decoration.

Large charge transfer and small lattice mismatch are beneficial for second layer Na atom adsorption.

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Herein, we report a comprehensive study on the structural and electronic properties of bulk, monolayer, and multilayer PdSe 2 sheets. First, we present a benchmark study on the structural properties of bulk PdSe 2 by using 13 commonly used density functional theory (DFT) functionals. Unexpectedly, the most commonly used van der Waals (vdW)-correction methods, including DFT-D2, optB88, and vdW-DF2, fail to provide accurate predictions of lattice parameters compared to experimental data (relative error > 15%). On the other hand, the PBE-TS series functionals provide significantly improved prediction with a relative error of <2%. Unlike hexagonal two-dimensional materials like graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and h-BN, the conduction band minimum of monolayer PdSe 2 is not located along the high symmetry lines in the first Brillouin zone; this highlights the importance of the structure–property relationship in the pentagonal lattice. Interestingly, high valley convergence is found in the conduction and valence bands in monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer PdSe 2 sheets, suggesting promising application in thermoelectric cooling.