Computational determination of a graphene-like TiB4 monolayer for metal-ion batteries and a nitrogen reduction electrocatalyst

• Published in: Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP Vol. 25; no. 10; pp. 7436 - 7444
• Main Authors: Li, Yameng, Yang, Weihua, Yu, Fangqi, Huang, Rao, Wen, Yuhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 08.03.2023
• Subjects: Ammonia; Anodes; Catalytic activity; Chemical reduction; Electrocatalysts; Electrochemical analysis; Electrode materials; Gibbs free energy; Graphene; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Hydrogenation; Monolayers; Selectivity; Sodium; Transition metals; Two dimensional materials
• DOI: 10.1039/d2cp05163j
• ISSN: 1463-9076

As an emerging two-dimensional (2D) material, the TiB4 monolayer possesses intrinsic advantages in electrochemical applications owing to its graphene-like structure and metallic characteristics. In this work, we performed density functional calculations to investigate the electrochemical properties of the TiB4 monolayer as an anode material for Li/Na/K ion batteries and as an electrocatalyst for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). Our investigation reveals that Li/Na/K ions could be steadily adsorbed on the TiB4 monolayer with moderate adsorption energies, and tended to diffuse along two adjacent C-sites with lower energy barriers (0.231/0.094/0.067 eV for Li/Na/K ions) compared to the currently reported transition-metal boride monolayers. Furthermore, a N2 molecule can be spontaneously captured by the TiB4 monolayer with a negative Gibbs free energy (−0.925 eV and −0.326 eV for end-on and side-on adsorptions, respectively), hence provoking a conversion into NH3 along the most efficient reaction pathway (i.e., N2* → N2H* → HNNH* → H2NNH* → H3NNH* → NH* → NH2* → NH3*). In the hydrogenation process, the TiB4 monolayer exhibits much higher catalytic activity for the NRR as compared with other electrocatalysts, which should be attributed to the spontaneous achievement (ΔG < 0) at all hydrogenation reaction steps except the potential-determining step. Moreover, the TiB4 monolayer exhibits higher selectivity toward the NRR than the hydrogen evolution reaction. Our work advances the mechanistic understanding on the electrochemical properties of the TiB4 monolayer as an anode material for metal-ion batteries and as a NRR electrocatalyst, and provides significant guidance for developing high-performance multifunctional 2D materials.