In this work, we present a comprehensive study on the role of metal species in MOF-based Me-N-C (mono- and bimetallic) catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The catalysts are investigated with respect to HER activity and stability in alkaline electrolyte. On the basis of the structural analysis by X-ray diffraction, X-ray-induced photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, it is concluded that MeN sites seem to dominate the HER activity of these catalysts. There is a strong relation between the amount of MeN sites that are formed and the energy of formation related to these sites integrated at the edge of a graphene layer, as obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our results show, for the first time, that the combination of two metals (Co and Mo) in a bimetallic (Co,Mo)-N-C catalyst allows hydrogen production with a significantly improved overpotential in comparison to its monometallic counterparts and other Me-N-C catalysts. By the combination of experimental results with DFT calculations, we show that the origin of the enhanced performance of our (Co,Mo)-N-C catalyst seems to be provided by an improved hydrogen binding energy on one MeN site because of the presence of a second MeN site in its close vicinity, as investigated in detail for our most active (Co,Mo)-N-C catalyst. The outstanding stability and good activity make especially the bimetallic Me-N-C catalysts interesting candidates for solar fuel applications.

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Li2S is the final product of lithiation of sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. In this work, we study formation and diffusion of defects in Li2S. It is found that for a wide range of voltages (referenced to metal Li) between 0.17 V and 2.01 V, positively charged interstitial Li (Li+) is the most favorable defect type with a fixed formation energy of 1.02 eV. The formation energy of negatively charged Li vacancy (VLi−) is also constant, and it is only 0.13 eV higher than that of Li+. For a narrow range of voltages between 0.00 V and 0.17 V, the formation energy of neutral S vacancy is the lowest and it decreases with decreasing the cell voltage. The energy barrier for Li+ diffusion (0.45 eV), which takes place via an exchange mechanism, is 0.18 eV higher than that for VLi− (0.27 eV), which takes place via a single vacancy hopping. Considering formation energies and diffusion barriers, we find that ionic conductivity in Li2S is due to both Li+ and VLi−, but the latter mechanism being slightly more favorable.

Mechanism of Li diffusion at the LiCoO2(101[combining overline]4) surface and in bulk LiCoO2 is studied using density functional theory calculations. We find that there is almost no barrier for the diffusion of Li between the two topmost surface layers. The results show that Li intercalation occurs by the diffusion of Li ions from the first layer to the divacancy of Li sites created by removal of two neighboring Li ions in the first and second layer. However, Li deintercalation occurs by the diffusion of Li ions from the second layer to the missing row of topmost Li sites. The energy barrier for the process of intercalation/deintercalation of Li between the second and third surface layers is also lower than that in the bulk. This finding indicates that nanosized LiCoO2 with a large surface area/volume ratio is a promising cathode material for fast charging/discharging Li-ion batteries.

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