The polaronic nature of excess electrons accompanying an oxygen vacancy in a TiO(2)(110) surface has been studied by several theoretical approaches. According to previous studies, DFT + U and hybrid functional methods predict different sites of localization of the polarons. In this paper, we conducted a thorough comparison of the results obtained by GGA + U (generalized gradient approximation + Hubbard U) and HSE06 (Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof hybrid functional) approximations. Considering initial symmetry breaking in the geometry optimization process, we show that regardless of the approximations used, electrons localize at two particular subsurface Ti sites in a state with mixed d(x(2)-y(2))/d(z(2)) character in the global coordinate frame with a spatial extent of the order of 7 Å. The lowest state of the polarons is a singlet, but the triplet is only about 0.1 meV higher in energy. Our results agree with previous experiments and calculations, wherever available. We stress that the hybrid functional has been first applied on this surface with a realistic coverage of oxygen vacancies corresponding to the experimental situation (~12.5%).

Kesterite semiconductors, particularly Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS), have attracted attention for thin-film solar cells. We investigate the incorporation of Fe into CZTS to form the Cu 2 (Zn,Fe)SnS 4 solid-solution for tuning the lattice spacing and band gap. Firstprinciples calculations confirm a phase transition from kesterite (Zn-rich) to stannite (Fe-rich) at Fe/Zn = 0.4. The exothermic enthalpy of mixing is consistent with the high solubility of Fe in the lattice. There is a linear band-gap bowing for each phase, which results in a blue-shift of photo-absorption for Fe-rich alloys due to the confinement of the conduction states. We propose compositions optimal for Si tandem cells.

Sr2VFeAsO3−δ remarkably enhances the oxygen evolution reaction by direct O–O bond formation between OH− coupled oxygen-vacant sites.

The formation of polarons in the presence of oxygen vacancies at the rutile TiO 2 surfaces is a widely studied topic due to its importance in complex surface reactions. In this paper, we have studied polaron formation both near and infinitely far away from the oxygen vacancy on the (110) rutile TiO 2 surface by ab initio density functional theory and screened hybrid functionals. We conclude that a polaron prefers to stay near the oxygen vacancy due to electrostatic attraction between the positively charged oxygen vacancy and polaron. Although two polarons introduced by an oxygen vacancy repel each other, the oxygen vacancy effectively binds two polarons, forming a bipolaron. Moreover, our calculated vacancy formation energies elucidate the conditions under which the polarons are likely to be formed.

The surface chemistry of rutile TiO2(110) has long been ascribed to surface bridging oxygen vacancies (VO) and accompanying excess electrons. However, recently there has been debate whether titanium interstitials (Tiint), a subsurface defect, participates in the surface reactions of TiO2(110). We used a combination of ab initio molecular dynamics and static density functional theory calculations to systematically investigate the spatial distribution of excess electrons introduced by Tiint. We found that these excess electrons form polarons and that the most stable structure had one polaron located at the Tiint site, and the other three at second-layer Ti sites below five-coordinate Ti sites. This behavior of Tiint providing excess electrons to the near-surface region is similar to that of VO, which suggests that Tiint may contribute to the surface chemical reactions of TiO2(110).