000981735 001__ 981735 000981735 005__ 20241011110838.0 000981735 0247_ $$2HBZ$$aHT030741092 000981735 0247_ $$2Laufende Nummer$$a43154 000981735 020__ $$a978-3-95806-753-0 000981735 037__ $$aRWTH-2024-03189 000981735 041__ $$aEnglish 000981735 082__ $$a620 000981735 1001_ $$0P:(DE-588)1328901246$$aTesch, Rebekka$$b0$$urwth 000981735 245__ $$aStructure and properties of electrochemical interfaces from first principles simulations$$cRebekka Tesch$$hprint 000981735 246_3 $$aStruktur und Eigenschaften von elektrochemischen Grenzflächen aus First-Principles-Simulationen$$yGerman 000981735 260__ $$aJülich$$bForschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Zentralbibliothek, Verlag$$c2024 000981735 300__ $$axvi, 161 Seiten : Illustrationen 000981735 3367_ $$02$$2EndNote$$aThesis 000981735 3367_ $$0PUB:(DE-HGF)11$$2PUB:(DE-HGF)$$aDissertation / PhD Thesis$$bphd$$mphd 000981735 3367_ $$0PUB:(DE-HGF)3$$2PUB:(DE-HGF)$$aBook$$mbook 000981735 3367_ $$2BibTeX$$aPHDTHESIS 000981735 3367_ $$2DRIVER$$adoctoralThesis 000981735 3367_ $$2DataCite$$aOutput Types/Dissertation 000981735 3367_ $$2ORCID$$aDISSERTATION 000981735 4900_ $$aSchriften des Forschungszentrums Jülich. Reihe Energie & Umwelt/ Energy & environment$$v629 000981735 502__ $$aDissertation, RWTH Aachen University, 2024$$bDissertation$$cRWTH Aachen University$$d2024$$gFak05$$o2024-02-16 000981735 5203_ $$lger 000981735 520__ $$aThe transition to a sustainable energy system relies on the availability of high-performing and cost-effective energy storage and conversion devices, such as batteries, fuel cells and electrolysers. The performance of these devices is directly related to the properties of the employed electrocatalyst materials. In order to develop electrochemical devices that can respond to societal, economical and environmental needs, catalyst materials must be improved in terms of activity, long-term stability and production cost. This requires significant progress in the fundamental understanding of relevant electrochemical processes. The majority of electrochemical processes take place at the interface between a solid electrode and a liquid electrolyte. Atomic-scale modeling is a powerful tool that can yield important information on structural, electronic and electrostatic properties of the interface. However, self-consistently modeling the two parts of the interface as well as their non-linear coupling is very challenging. Existing computational methods are limited in terms of accuracy and/or efficiency. The aim of this thesis is to address some of the limitations of existing methods and provide accurate computational methodologies for a realistic description of the local reaction conditions at the electrochemical interface and of the electrocatalytic processes. We focus on two aspects: (1) the efficient and accurate computation of the electronic structure of materials with strongly correlated electrons, such as d- or f-electrons, and (2) the self-consistent description of phenomena at electrochemical interfaces, including the effects of electrolyte species and electrode potential. For these purposes, two methods have been studied in detail in this thesis: (1) the DFT+U approach for the description of strongly correlated electrons and (2) the recently developed effective screening medium reference interaction site method (ESM-RISM) for the description of electrochemical interfaces. The conducted research enabled us to establish an improved DFT+U approach for the computation of the electronic structure of electrode materials. In this methodology, we derive the Hubbard U parameter from an existing first principles-based linear response method. Additionally, we use Wannier projectors instead of standard atomic orbitals projectors for more accurate counting of orbital occupations. The resulting scheme provides an improved electronic structure description of various d- and f-materials and allows, for example, for enhanced studies of catalytically active sites in oxide electrocatalysts. These results indicate that a correct electronic structure description is an important precondition for an accurate computational modeling of electrochemical interfaces. Regarding the electrochemical interface, we extensively tested, validated and applied the ESM-RISM for metal/electrolyte interfaces. Our research showed that the ESM-RISM is a powerful method for the computation of electrochemical interfaces, when applied with care regarding the parameterization of interactions and the description of the near-surface electrolyte structure. It is capable of delivering accurate information on various interface properties like the double layer structure, electrostatic interfacial potentials and surface charging relations. In particular, we were able to reproduce the measured non-monotonic charging relation of the partially oxidized Pt(111)/electrolyte interface. Finally, we combined both computational approaches to study NiOOH materials as catalysts for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This investigation was possible only with the non-standard DFT+U scheme, since the standard DFT+U approach incorrectly predicts a metallic state for this semiconducting material. In this respect, we discuss problems of grand canonical approaches for simulating electrified semiconductor/electrolyte interfaces. Accounting for the local reaction environment, we computed thermodynamic overpotentials for the OER, surface charging relations and properties of active sites depending on the potential-dependent degree of surface deprotonation. These results pave the way for more realistic simulations of electrochemical systems. The outcome of this thesis enables improved and more accurate treatments of atomic-scale processes at electrochemical interfaces at reasonable computational cost. Providing a sound methodological basis, the investigated methods allow going beyond previous computational studies in terms of the description of electrochemical conditions. These methodologies, although still far from being able to self-consistently account for all relevant electrochemical phenomena, should lead to improved understanding of electrochemical materials. In this way, they help develop improved catalyst materials for energy devices that are required for implementing the energy transition.$$leng 000981735 588__ $$aDataset connected to Lobid/HBZ 000981735 591__ $$aGermany 000981735 653_7 $$aDichtefunktionaltheorie 000981735 653_7 $$aElektrokatalyse 000981735 653_7 $$adensity functional theory 000981735 653_7 $$aelectrocatalysis 000981735 653_7 $$aelectrochemical interface 000981735 653_7 $$aelectronic structure 000981735 653_7 $$aelektrochemische Grenzfläche 000981735 653_7 $$aelektronische Struktur 000981735 653_7 $$afirst-principles electrochemistry 000981735 653_7 $$areference interaction site method 000981735 7001_ $$0P:(DE-82)819791$$aEikerling, Michael$$b1$$eThesis advisor$$urwth 000981735 7001_ $$0P:(DE-82)994817$$aGroß, Axel$$b2$$eThesis advisor 000981735 909CO $$ooai:publications.rwth-aachen.de:981735$$pVDB 000981735 9141_ $$y2024 000981735 9101_ $$0I:(DE-588b)36225-6$$6P:(DE-588)1328901246$$aRWTH Aachen$$b0$$kRWTH 000981735 9101_ $$0I:(DE-588b)36225-6$$6P:(DE-82)819791$$aRWTH Aachen$$b1$$kRWTH 000981735 9201_ $$0I:(DE-82)526810_20191118$$k526810$$lLehrstuhl für Theorie und computergestützte Modellierung von Energiematerialien$$x0 000981735 9201_ $$0I:(DE-82)520000_20140620$$k520000$$lFachgruppe für Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik$$x1 000981735 961__ $$c2024-10-10T16:26:57.777950$$x2024-03-13T17:51:04.792794$$z2024-10-10T16:26:57.777950 000981735 980__ $$aI:(DE-82)520000_20140620 000981735 980__ $$aI:(DE-82)526810_20191118 000981735 980__ $$aUNRESTRICTED 000981735 980__ $$aVDB 000981735 980__ $$abook 000981735 980__ $$aphd