Strain-regulated electronic structure for hydrogen evolution reaction in Fe3S4 monolayer

Electrochemical water splitting to generate hydrogen could be an important part of future renewable energy, but faces challenge due to the scarcity of effective earth-abundant electrocatalysts and insufficient understanding of catalytic mechanism. Herein, we predicated strain-induced changes in electronic structure and catalytic performance of low-cost two-dimensional Fe₃S₄ material. The calculations disclose that the half-metallic feature evolves into metallicity under applied external strain, which makes Gibbs adsorption free energy of hydrogen close to zero. Different from traditional doping and defecting strategies, this work demonstrates that excellent catalytic activity for water splitting can be achieved by inducing a small lattice deformation in Fe₃S₄ monolayer. Our findings provide new inspirations for the steering of electronic structure and designing of new-type catalysts.