Substantial Impact of Charge on Electrochemical Reactions of Two-Dimensional Materials

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted great interest in catalyzing electrochemical reactions such as water splitting, oxygen reduction, and carbon dioxide reduction. Quantum mechanical simulations have been extensively employed to study the catalytic mechanisms. These calculations typically assume that the catalyst is charge neutral for computational simplicity; however, in reality, the catalyst is usually charged to match its Fermi level with the applied electrode potential. These contradictions urge an evaluation of the charge effects. Here, using the example of hydrogen adsorption on the common 2D electrocatalysts (N-doped graphene and MoS₂) and 3D metal catalysts, and employing the grand canonical density functional theory, we show that the charge on 2D materials can have a much stronger impact on the electrochemical reaction than the charge on 3D metals (the reaction energy can differ by >1 eV after including the charge effects). This arises from the charge-induced change in the occupation of electronic states, which is more significant for 2D materials due to their limited density of states. Our work provides a fundamental understanding of the charge effects in 2D materials, calls for re-evaluation of the previously suggested mechanisms by including the overlooked charge effects, and offers practical guidelines for designing 2D catalysts.