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dc.contributorDepartment of Applied Physicsen_US
dc.contributor.advisorYang, Ming (AP)en_US
dc.contributor.advisorHuang, Haitao (AP)en_US
dc.creatorDing, Keda-
dc.identifier.urihttps://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/14476-
dc.languageEnglishen_US
dc.publisherHong Kong Polytechnic Universityen_US
dc.rightsAll rights reserveden_US
dc.titleAtomic-scale engineering and mechanistic insights into next-generation electrocatalysts : a computational perspectiveen_US
dcterms.abstractThis work systematically investigates the electronic structure and catalytic performance of advanced electrocatalyst systems across three representative platforms: curved and vacancy-engineered MoS₂ for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), heteronuclear Fe-Co single-atom catalysts (SACs) for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and geminal Cu atom-doped polymeric carbon nitride (Cu/PCN) for CO reduction reaction (CORR). Through in-depth first-principles calculations, we reveal that engineering curvature and sulfur vacancies in MoS₂ narrows the band gap and optimizes the density of states near the Fermi level, which significantly enhancing HER activity. For Fe-Co SACs on 4-fold nitrogen embedded on graphene (FeN₄-C and CoN₄-C), our study illustrates the importance of the loading effect in heteronuclear SACs; and identify the best ORR performance around 16.8% wt. In the case of Cu/PCN, detailed electronic and thermodynamic analyses uncover the mechanisms underlying C₁ (methanol) versus C₂ (ethylene glycol) product selectivity; high concentrations of geminal Cu and CO availability favoring ethylene glycol formation. These findings reveal the atomic-scale engineering and mechanistic insights for the next-generation electrocatalysts.en_US
dcterms.extentiv, 159 pages : color illustrationsen_US
dcterms.isPartOfPolyU Electronic Thesesen_US
dcterms.issued2026en_US
dcterms.educationalLevelPh.D.en_US
dcterms.educationalLevelAll Doctorateen_US
dcterms.accessRightsopen accessen_US

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/14476