Examination of the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relationship for the hydrogen evolution reaction on transition metals based on constant electrode potential density functional theory.

In the search for efficient and inexpensive electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the hydrogen binding energy is often used as a descriptor to represent the catalytic activity. The success of this approach relies on the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi (BEP) relationship. In this study, we used constant electrode potential density functional theory calculations to examine this relationship.

Influence of Carrier Gases on the Quality of Epitaxial Corundum-Structured α-GaO Films Grown by Mist Chemical Vapor Deposition Method.

This report systematically investigates the influence of different carrier gases (O, N, and air) on the growth of gallium oxide (GaO) thin films on c-plane sapphire substrates by using the mist-CVD method. Although XRD and Raman measurements show that the pure corundum-structured α-GaO with single (0006) plane orientation was successfully obtained for all three different carrier gases, the crystal quality could be greatly affected by the carrier gas. When O is used as the carrier gas, the smallest full-width at half maximum (FWHM), the very sharp absorption cutoff edge, the perfect lattice structure, the highest growth rate, and the smooth surface can be obtained for the epitaxial α-GaO film as demonstrated by XRD, UV-VIS, TEM, AFM (Atomic Force Microscope), and SEM measurements.