Understanding the effect of mechanical strains on the catalytic activity of transition metals

The effect of elastic strains on the catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was analyzed on thirteen late transition metals: eight (111) surfaces of fcc metals (Ni, Cu, Pd, Ag, Pt, Au, Rh, Ir) and five (0001) surfaces of hcp metals (Co, Zn, Cd, Ru, and Os). The corresponding adsorption energies for the different intermediate reactions up to strains dictated by the mechanical stability limits were previously obtained by means of density functional theory calculations. It was found that the elastic strains can be used to tune the catalytic activity of different metals by reducing the energy barrier of the rate limiting step and even to reach the cusp of the volcano plot. The largest changes in catalytic activity with strain for the HER were found in Pt, Au, and Ir while Co and Ni were very insensitive to this strategy. In the case of the ORR, the catalytic activity of Au could be enhanced by the application of tensile strains while that of Cu, Ni, Pt, Pd, Rh, Co, Ru, and Os was improved by the application of compressive strains. However, the catalytic activity of Ir was rather insensitive to mechanical deformations. Elastic strains were able to modify the rate limiting reaction in Au, Pt, Ag, and Os and it was possible to achieve the cusp of the volcano plot in these metals. Final, mechanical instabilities were attained at small strains in Zn and Cd, which did not lead to significant changes in the catalytic activity for the HER and the ORR. These results provide a framework to systematically investigate the application of elastic strains in the design of new catalysts.