Water splitting on single Fe atom catalyst anchored on defective graphene surfaces by using first-principles density functional theory. The structure and electronic features of isolated Fe atom anchored on three graphene surfaces with single vacancy (SV), double vacancy (DV) and Stone-Wales structure (SW) defect were systematically explored. The three structures prove to be high activity and high stability on catalytic. The adsorption and the energy barrier of water splitting as well as hydrogen adsorption free energy delta G(H lowast;) on single-atom Fe were also studied. The sequence of promoted splitting activity is found to be Fe@SW > Fe@DV > Fe@SV. Furthermore, by hydrogen adsorption free energy delta G(H lowast;) analysis, we predict that the HER catalytic activity of graphene nanosheet can be improved by anchoring Fe atom on SV and DV structures, which are comparable to or even better than noble metals. It is found that the catalytic activity of water splitting and HER can be changed with the shift in d-band center with respect to Fermi-level. Detailed investigations on electronic structure of Fe@graphene catalytic systems disclose an obvious orbital hybridization coupling and charge transfer between atom Fe on carbon surfaces and water molecule. These results provide us with new insight into design of high performer and low-cost catalysts and may inspire potential applications in the fields of clean and renewable energy. (C) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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