First‐Principles Study of Carbon‐Substituted ZnO Monolayer for Adjusting Lithium Adsorption in Battery Application

Abstract

Structural stability, local density of states, bonding information, and charge distribution differences of C‐substituted ZnO (C/VZnxOy) monolayer structures, as well as their interactions with lithium atoms, are investigated using the density functional theory (DFT) method. The energy required to generate vacancies in pristine ZnO monolayers is considerably high, but since the C atoms are strongly adsorbed in thevacant sites, the energy required to form C/VZnxOy structures is reduced. These lattice substitutions cause an alteration of the Zn d‐states. The bonding analysis shows that the C — O interaction is stronger than the C — Zn interaction. So, it generates high stability for these structures. Furthermore, because the development of C/VZnxOy is aimed at lithium battery electrode applications, the most fundamental thing that needs to be examined initially is the interaction between the C/VZnxOy surfaces and the lithium atoms. Li3 strongly binds on all C/VZnxOy surfaces, and it turns to Li3+ based on a simple analysis of charge distribution differences. These findings will have a substantial impact on the future development of ZnO monolayers, and their potential as lithium battery electrodes can be studied further.