As promising materials for the reduction of greenhouse gases, transition‐metal carbides, which are highly active in the hydrogenation of CO2, are mainly considered. In this regard, the reaction mechanism of CO2 hydrogenation to useful products on the Nb‐terminated NbC (111) surface is investigated by applying density functional theory calculations. The computational results display that the formation of CH4, CH3OH, and CO are more favored than other compounds, where CH4 is the dominant product. In addition, the findings from reaction energies reveal that the preferred mechanism for CO2 hydrogenation is thorough HCOOH*, where the largest exothermic reaction energy releases during the HCOOH* dissociation reaction (2.004 eV). The preferred mechanism of CO2 hydrogenation towards CH4 production is CO2*→t,c‐COOH*→HCOOH*→HCO*→CH2O*→CH2OH*→CH2*→CH3*→CH4*, where CO2*→t,c‐COOH*→HCOOH*→HCO*→CH2O*→CH2OH*→CH3OH* and CO2*→t,c‐COOH*→CO* are also found as the favored mechanisms for CH3OH and CO productions thermodynamically, respectively. During the mentioned mechanisms, the hydrogenation of CH2O* to CH2OH* has the largest endothermic reaction energy of 1.344 eV.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.