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Transition metal carbides and nitrides are interesting non-precious materials that have been shown to replace or reduce the loading of precious metals for catalyzing several important electrochemical reactions. The purpose of this review is to summarize density functional theory (DFT) studies, describe reaction pathways, identify activity and selectivity descriptors, and present a future outlook in designing carbide and nitride catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), nitrogen reduction reaction (N2RR), CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) and alcohol oxidation reactions. This topic is of high interest to scientific communities working in the field of electrocatalysis and this review should provide theoretical guidance for the rational design of improved carbide and nitride electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic reduction of CO2 requires active, selective and low-cost catalysts. Results of this study show that transition metal carbides are a class of promising catalysts and their activity is correlated with oxygen binding energy and reducibility as shown by DFT calculations and in situ measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]