There are known errors in oxidation
energies of transition metal
oxides caused by an improper treatment of their d-electrons. The Hubbard <i>U</i> is the computationally cheapest addition one can use to
capture correct reaction energies, but the specific Hubbard <i>U</i> oftentimes must be empirically determined only when suitable
experimental data exist. We evaluated the effect of adding a calculated,
linear response <i>U</i> on the predicted adsorption energies,
scaling relationships, and activity trends with respect to the oxygen
evolution reaction for a set of transition metal dioxides. We find
that applying a <i>U</i> greater than zero always causes
adsorption energies to be more endothermic. Furthermore, the addition
of the Hubbard <i>U</i> greater than zero does not break
scaling relationships established without the Hubbard <i>U</i>. The addition of the calculated linear response <i>U</i> value produces shifts of different systems along the activity volcano
that results in improved activity trends when compared with experimental
results