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• We demonstrated the Fe-PTC monolayer can serve as a trifunctional electrocatalyst. • Fe-PTC has high electrocatalytic activity for HER with overpotential is −0.23 V. • The p-band center as descriptor is used to reveal the origins of catalytic activity. • Fe-PTC is a potential electrocatalyst for both OER and ORR with low overpotentials. Integrating high efficiency hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in multifunctional electrocatalysts is attractive for the unitized regenerative fuel cells and overall water splitting technologies. We demonstrated from first-principles calculations the recently- synthesized two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely transition metal 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12- perthiolated coronene (TM-PTC) have multifunctional electrocatalytic activity for HER, OER and ORR. In particular, Fe-PTC monolayer can serve as a trifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting and rechargeable metal-air battery with low overpotentials comparable to those of the well-developed unifunctional electrocatalysts. The origins of the trifunctional electrocatalytic activity were also discussed. This work is expected to open an avenue for the design of highly-efficient multifunctional electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) plays an important role in water splitting to produce hydrogen. The high price of precious platinum-based catalysts that are the best HER electrocatalysts by now hampers the commercial application. Low-cost, earth-abundant and highly-efficient HER electrocatalysts are thus long-desired. On the basis of first-principles calculations, we investigated the HER electrocatalytic performance of the non-precious TiF 3 and its analogs. Our calculations showed that TiF 3 and WO 3 can serve as efficient HER electrocatalysts with the overpotentials comparable to those of the platinum-based catalysts. To uncover the origins of electrocatalytic performance, we established a relationship between the surface adsorption ability of a material and its electronic structure. The low HER overpotentials, unique porous structure and high abundance in earth make these materials promising candidates for high-performance HER electrocatalysts. Unlabelled Image • We proposed a new family of electrocatalytic materials with intrinsic porous structures - TiF 3 and its analogs. • Non-precious TiF 3 (ΔG H⁎ = -0.03 eV) and its analog WO 3 (ΔG H⁎ = -0.05 eV) can serve as efficient HER electrocatalysts. • A descriptor based on the d-band center is proposed to reveal the origins of catalytic activity. • The low overpotential and unique porous structure make them promising candidates for HER electrocatalysts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]