Lithium-rich transition metal disordered rock salt (DRS) oxyfluorides have the potential to lessen one large bottleneck for lithium ion batteries by improving the cathode capacity. However, irreversible reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface have so far led to fast capacity fading during electrochemical cycling. Here, we report the synthesis of two new Li-rich transition metal oxyfluorides Li 2 V 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 2 F and Li 2 V 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 2 F using the mechanochemical ball milling procedure. Both materials show substantially improved cycling stability compared to Li 2 VO 2 F. Rietveld refinements of synchrotron X-ray diffraction patterns reveal the DRS structure of the materials. Based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we demonstrate that substitution of V 3+ with Ti 3+ and Fe 3+ favors disordering of the mixed metastable DRS oxyfluoride phase. Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that the substitution stabilizes the active material electrode particle surface and increases the reversibility of the V 3+ /V 5+ redox couple. This work presents a strategy for stabilization of the DRS structure leading to improved electrochemical cyclability of the materials. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: PXRD pattern of ceramic synthesis attempts; structural parameters of the Rietveld renements; PXRD pattern of Li 2 VO 2 F with Rietveld renement; Williamson-Hall-plots; TEM and EDX analysis; SQS of Li 2 TMO 2 F and Li 2 TM1 0.5 TM2 0.5 O 2 F; ordered structures of Li 2 TM1 0.5 TM2 0.5 O 2 F; table of energy difference between the ordered/decomposed state and disordered state; table of oxidation states of TMs; voltage proles of Li 2 VO 2 F, Li 2 V 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 2 F and Li 2 V 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 2 F half-cells cycled up to 4.1 V; PXRD pattern of cycled electrodes; HAXPES Fe 2p peak tting; HAXPES survey of Li 2 V 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 2 F and Li 2 VO 2 F and uorine plasmon overlaps with the Fe 2p 3/2 peak; core level photoelectron spectra of Fe 2p and Ti 2p; cycling performance of Li 2 VO 2 F, Li 2 V 0.5 Ti 0.5 O 2 F and Li 2 V 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 2 F half-cells cycled up to 4.5 V. See

Materials exhibiting a substitutional disorder such as multicomponent alloys and mixed metal oxides/oxyfluorides are of great importance in many scientific and technological sectors. Disordered materials constitute an overwhelmingly large configurational space, which makes it practically impossible to be explored manually using first-principles calculations such as density functional theory (DFT) due to the high computational costs. Consequently, the use of methods such as cluster expansion (CE) is vital in enhancing our understanding of the disordered materials. CE dramatically reduces the computational cost by mapping the first-principles calculation results on to a Hamiltonian which is much faster to evaluate. In this work, we present our implementation of the CE method, which is integrated as a part of the Atomic Simulation Environment (ASE) open-source package. The versatile and user-friendly code automates the complex set up and construction procedure of CE while giving the users the flexibility to tweak the settings and to import their own structures and previous calculation results. Recent advancements such as regularization techniques from machine learning are implemented in the developed code. The code allows the users to construct CE on any bulk lattice structure, which makes it useful for a wide range of applications involving complex materials. We demonstrate the capabilities of our implementation by analyzing the two example materials with varying complexities: a binary metal alloy and a disordered lithium chromium oxyfluoride.

The interaction of water monomers with a gold surface is investigated using density functional theory (DFT) to develop a better understanding of the response of a water molecule to an imposed electric field at the surface. Two gold surface orientations, Au(111) and Au(110), are studied. Multiple unique stable adsorption positions of water molecules are identified for each surface orientation, and the results are validated against existing theoretical and experimental data. The values of the adsorption energies do not vary by more than 0.06 eV, which suggests that the potential energy surface of the water molecule interacting with the gold electrode is relatively smooth. The projected density of states and the difference charge density analyses reveal that the interaction mechanism between the water molecule and the gold electrode is a partial exchange of charge rather than a chemical bonding. A normal electric field of magnitude between ±5.0 × 109 V/m is applied and its effect on the geometry and orientation of the water molecule is analyzed. The change in the geometry of the water molecule in response to the applied electric field shows a strong nonlinearity and asymmetry with respect to the magnitude and direction of the applied field. The interaction between the water monomer and Au electrode with/without the electric field is explained in terms of the interplay of Au–O, Au–OH, and electrostatic interactions. There is a significant difference between the dielectric response of the water molecule on the Au(111) and Au(110) surface that is related to the strength of the adsorption energy of the water monomer to both surfaces.

Anionic redox processes play a key role in determining the accessible capacity and cycle life of Li-rich cathode materials for batteries. We present a framework for investigating the anionic redox processes based on data readily available from standard DFT calculations. Our recipe includes a method of classifying different anionic species, counting the number of species present in the structure and a preconditioning scheme to promote anionic redox. The method is applied to a set of LixMnO3 (1 ≤ x ≤2) structures, with cationic disorder, to identify the evolution of anionic redox processes during cycling. Additionally, we investigate how different choices of exchange-correlation functionals affect the formation of anionic redox species. The preconditioning of the structures is shown to promote the formation of peroxo-like species. Furthermore, the choice of exchange-correlation functional has a large impact on the type of anionic redox species present, and thus care must be taken when considering localization in anionic species.

This work reports new insights and understanding of anionic redox activities in Li-rich cathode materials during electrochemical cycling based on computational and experimental analyses.