Lithium iron borate is an attractive cathode material for Li-ion batteries due to its high specific capacity and low-cost, earth-abundant constituents. However, experiments have observed poor electrochemical performance due to the formation of an intermediate phase, that is, Li x FeBO3, which leads to large overvoltages at the beginning of charge. Using a convex-hull analysis, based on Hubbard-corrected density functional theory (DFT+U), we identify this intermediate phase as Li0.5FeBO3. Moreover, we show by means of the nudged elastic band (NEB) method, that the origin of these adverse electrochemical effects can be explained by an intrinsically low Li-ion and electron/hole-polaron mobility in Li0.5FeBO3 due to high activation barriers for both the ionic and electronic transport. These studies include the effects of the experimentally reported commensurate modulation. We have also investigated the Li-ion/hole diffusion through the interface between Li0.5FeBO3 and LiFeBO3, which is found not to result in additional kinetic limitations from Li diffusion across the intraparticle interfaces. These findings suggest that the experimentally observed diminished performance associated with the formation of intermediate phases is linked to the intrinsically poor properties of the Li0.5FeBO3 phase rather than to the presence of interfaces between different phases.
Possible changes in the oxidation state of the oxygen ion in the lithium iron phosphate Li3Fe2(PO4)3 at high voltages in lithium‐ion (Li‐ion) batteries are studied using experimental and computational analysis. Results obtained from synchrotron‐based hard X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) show that the oxidation state of O2− ions is altered to higher oxidation states (Oδ−, δ<2) upon charging Li3Fe2(PO4)3 to 4.7 V.
Polarons and their associated transport properties are a field of great current interest both in chemistry and physics. In order to further our understanding of these quasi-particles, we have carried out first-principles calculations of self-trapped holes (STH) in the model compounds AgCl and AgBr, where extensive experimental information exists. Our calculations confirm that the STH solely stabilizes in AgCl but with a binding energy of only 165 meV, an order of magnitude smaller than that found for the Vk center in KCl. Key contributions to this stabilization energy come from the local relaxation along breathing (a1g) and Jahn-Teller (eg) modes in the AgCl6 4-unit. In order to study the transfer of the STH among silver sites we (i) use first-principles calculations to obtain the hopping barrier of the STH to first and second neighbors, involving eight distinct paths, using firstprinciples and (ii) construct a simple model, based on Slater-Koster parameters, that highlights the similarity of polaron transfer with magnetic superexchange. This allows one understanding why the movement of STH to second neighbors is highly enhanced with respect to closer ones. In agreement with experimental data and the model, the present calculations prove the existence of a dominant mechanism of polaronic motion that corresponds to the displacement of the STH to the next nearest sites in the <100> direction and a small barrier of 37 meV. This mechanism is dominated by the covalency inside a AgX6 4-complex (X:Cl;Br) thus explaining why the STH is not stabilized in AgBr following the increase of covalency due to the ClBr substitution. The present calculations confirm that ~10% of the charge associated with the STH in AgCl is lying outside the AgCl6 4-complex. This fact is behind the differences between optical and magnetic properties of the STH in AgCl and those observed in KCl:Ag 2+ .2
Lithium iron borate (LiFeBO) is a promising cathode material due to its high theoretical specific capacity, inexpensive components and small volume change during operation. Yet, challenges related to severe air- and moisture-induced degradation have prompted the utilization of a protective coating on the electrode which also improves the electronic conductivity. However, not much is known about the preferential geometries of the coating as well as how these coating-electrode interfaces influence the lithium diffusion between the coating and the electrode. Here, we therefore present a density functional theory (DFT) study of the anchoring configurations of carbon coating on the LiFeBO electrode and its implications on the interfacial lithium diffusion. Due to large barriers associated with Li-ion diffusion through a parallel-oriented pristine graphene coating on the FeBO and LiFeBO electrode surfaces, large structural defects in the graphene coating are required for fast Li-ion diffusion. However, such defects are expected to exist only in small concentrations due to their high formation energies. Alternative coating geometries were therefore investigated, and the configuration in which the coating layers were anchored normal to the electrode surface at B and O atoms was found to be most stable. Nudged elastic band (NEB) calculations of the lithium diffusion barriers across the interface between the optimally oriented coating layers and the electrode show no kinetic limitations for lithium extraction and insertion. Additionally, this graphite-coating configuration showed partial blocking of electrode-degrading species.
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