skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Metal–oxygen decoordination stabilizes anion redox in Li-rich oxides

Journal Article · · Nature Materials
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [1]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [7];  [8]; ORCiD logo [7];  [7]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [10];  [11]; ORCiD logo [12]; ORCiD logo [13]
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. Stanford Inst. for Materials & Energy Sciences. Applied Energy Division
  2. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Advanced Light Source
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division
  4. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  5. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Inst. for Materials & Energy Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Advanced Light Source
  6. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  7. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource
  8. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). The Advanced Photon Source
  9. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Advanced Light Source
  10. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Molecular Foundry
  11. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  12. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. Applied Energy Division
  13. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Inst. for Materials & Energy Sciences. Applied Energy Division

Reversible high-voltage redox chemistry is an essential component of many electrochemical technologies, from (electro)catalysts to lithium-ion batteries. Oxygen-anion redox has garnered intense interest for such applications, particularly lithium-ion batteries, as it offers substantial redox capacity at more than 4 V versus Li/Li+ in a variety of oxide materials. However, oxidation of oxygen is almost universally correlated with irreversible local structural transformations, voltage hysteresis and voltage fade, which currently preclude its widespread use. By comprehensively studying the Li2-xIr1-ySnyO3 model system, which exhibits tunable oxidation state and structural evolution with y upon cycling, we reveal that this structure-redox coupling arises from the local stabilization of short approximately 1.8 Å metal-oxygen π bonds and approximately 1.4 Å O-O dimers during oxygen redox, which occurs in Li2-xIr1-ySnyO3 through ligand-to-metal charge transfer. Crucially, formation of these oxidized oxygen species necessitates the decoordination of oxygen to a single covalent bonding partner through formation of vacancies at neighbouring cation sites, driving cation disorder. These insights establish a point-defect explanation for why anion redox often occurs alongside local structural disordering and voltage hysteresis during cycling. Our findings offer an explanation for the unique electrochemical properties of lithium-rich layered oxides, with implications generally for the design of materials employing oxygen redox chemistry.

Research Organization:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Northeastern Center for Chemical Energy Storage (NECCES); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; AC02-05CH11231; AC02-06CH11357; SC0012583; ECCS-1542152
OSTI ID:
1494840
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1503542; OSTI ID: 1594911
Journal Information:
Nature Materials, Vol. 18; ISSN 1476-1122
Publisher:
Springer Nature - Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 211 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (71)

Reversible anionic redox chemistry in high-capacity layered-oxide electrodes journal July 2013
Molecular Orbital Principles of Oxygen-Redox Battery Electrodes journal October 2017
Generalized Gradient Approximation Made Simple journal October 1996
Electronic structure, local magnetism, and spin-orbit effects of Ir(IV)-, Ir(V)-, and Ir(VI)-based compounds journal June 2015
Generating derivative structures at a fixed concentration journal June 2012
Nd 2 K 2 IrO 7 and Sm 2 K 2 IrO 7 : Iridium(VI) Oxides Prepared under Ambient Pressure journal November 2008
Projector augmented-wave method journal December 1994
Hybrid functionals based on a screened Coulomb potential journal May 2003
The structural and chemical origin of the oxygen redox activity in layered and cation-disordered Li-excess cathode materials journal May 2016
Quantifying ligand effects in high-oxidation-state metal catalysis journal August 2017
Electrochemical intercalation of sodium in NaxCoO2 bronzes journal August 1981
Calibrating transition-metal energy levels and oxygen bands in first-principles calculations: Accurate prediction of redox potentials and charge transfer in lithium transition-metal oxides journal September 2015
From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method journal January 1999
Anionic redox processes for electrochemical devices journal January 2016
Algorithm for generating derivative structures journal June 2008
Electron-energy-loss spectra and the structural stability of nickel oxide: An LSDA+U study journal January 1998
First-principles study of the electronic structure and magnetism of CaIrO 3 journal January 2012
Anion Redox Chemistry in the Cobalt Free 3d Transition Metal Oxide Intercalation Electrode Li[Li 0.2 Ni 0.2 Mn 0.6 ]O 2 journal August 2016
Oxygen redox chemistry without excess alkali-metal ions in Na2/3[Mg0.28Mn0.72]O2 journal January 2018
The Effect of Cation Disorder on the Average Li Intercalation Voltage of Transition-Metal Oxides journal May 2016
Modular soft x-ray spectrometer for applications in energy sciences and quantum materials journal January 2017
Editors' Choice—Practical Assessment of Anionic Redox in Li-Rich Layered Oxide Cathodes: A Mixed Blessing for High Energy Li-Ion Batteries journal January 2016
Origin of voltage decay in high-capacity layered oxide electrodes journal December 2014
Structure-Induced Reversible Anionic Redox Activity in Na Layered Oxide Cathode journal January 2018
Ab initiomolecular dynamics for liquid metals journal January 1993
Visualization of O-O peroxo-like dimers in high-capacity layered oxides for Li-ion batteries journal December 2015
L 2 and L 3 measurements of transition-metal 5 d orbital occupancy, spin-orbit effects, and chemical bonding journal August 1987
Activating lattice oxygen redox reactions in metal oxides to catalyse oxygen evolution journal January 2017
Synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of oxotrimesityliridium(V) journal August 1993
Ultimate Limits to Intercalation Reactions for Lithium Batteries journal October 2014
Resonant Inelastic Scattering Spectra of Free Molecules with Vibrational Resolution journal May 2010
Approaching the limits of cationic and anionic electrochemical activity with the Li-rich layered rocksalt Li3IrO4 journal December 2017
Potential hysteresis between charge and discharge reactions in Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2 for lithium ion batteries journal February 2017
Phase diagrams of lithium transition metal oxides: investigations from first principles journal September 1999
XANES and EXAFS Studies on the Ir-O Bond Covalency in Ionic Iridium Perovskites journal August 1995
Investigation of the Charge Compensation Mechanism on the Electrochemically Li-Ion Deintercalated Li 1 - x Co 1/3 Ni 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 Electrode System by Combination of Soft and Hard X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy journal December 2005
Spectroscopic Signature of Oxidized Oxygen States in Peroxides journal October 2018
Charge-compensation in 3d-transition-metal-oxide intercalation cathodes through the generation of localized electron holes on oxygen journal March 2016
Origin of High Capacity and Poor Cycling Stability of Li-Rich Layered Oxides: A Long-Duration in Situ Synchrotron Powder Diffraction Study journal May 2018
Structure, and magnetic and electrochemical properties of layered oxides, Li2IrO3 journal February 2003
Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set journal July 1996
The active site of low-temperature methane hydroxylation in iron-containing zeolites journal August 2016
Mechanistic Studies of the Oxygen Evolution Reaction by a Cobalt-Phosphate Catalyst at Neutral pH journal November 2010
Unraveling the Voltage-Fade Mechanism in High-Energy-Density Lithium-Ion Batteries: Origin of the Tetrahedral Cations for Spinel Conversion journal October 2014
Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set journal October 1996
Examining Hysteresis in Composite x Li 2 MnO 3 ·(1– x )LiMO 2 Cathode Structures journal March 2013
Ab initio molecular-dynamics simulation of the liquid-metal–amorphous-semiconductor transition in germanium journal May 1994
Lithium Extraction Mechanism in Li-Rich Li 2 MnO 3 Involving Oxygen Hole Formation and Dimerization journal September 2016
Multiple Scattering Calculations of Bonding and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Manganese Oxides journal April 2003
Fundamental understanding and practical challenges of anionic redox activity in Li-ion batteries journal April 2018
Variable character of O--O and M--O bonding in side-on ( 2) 1:1 metal complexes of O2 journal March 2003
Global Optimization by Basin-Hopping and the Lowest Energy Structures of Lennard-Jones Clusters Containing up to 110 Atoms journal July 1997
Li2MnO3-stabilized LiMO2 (M = Mn, Ni, Co) electrodes for lithium-ion batteries journal January 2007
Elucidating anionic oxygen activity in lithium-rich layered oxides journal March 2018
Semiempirical GGA-type density functional constructed with a long-range dispersion correction journal January 2006
Intermediate honeycomb ordering to trigger oxygen redox chemistry in layered battery electrode journal April 2016
Re-entrant Lithium Local Environments and Defect Driven Electrochemistry of Li- and Mn-Rich Li-Ion Battery Cathodes journal February 2015
Direct Experimental Probe of the Ni(II)/Ni(III)/Ni(IV) Redox Evolution in LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 Electrodes journal November 2015
Coupling between oxygen redox and cation migration explains unusual electrochemistry in lithium-rich layered oxides journal December 2017
Origin of stabilization and destabilization in solid-state redox reaction of oxide ions for lithium-ion batteries journal December 2016
First-Cycle Simulation for Li-Rich Layered Oxide Cathode Material x Li 2 MnO 3 (1- x )Li M O 2 ( x = 0.4) journal January 2018
Structural Evolution and Redox Processes Involved in the Electrochemical Cycling of P2–Na 0.67 [Mn 0.66 Fe 0.20 Cu 0.14 ]O 2 journal July 2017
Enabling the high capacity of lithium-rich anti-fluorite lithium iron oxide by simultaneous anionic and cationic redox journal December 2017
Highly Reversible Oxygen-Redox Chemistry at 4.1 V in Na 4/7− x [□ 1/7 Mn 6/7 ]O 2 (□: Mn Vacancy) journal April 2018
Voltage- and time-dependent valence state transition in cobalt oxide catalysts during the oxygen evolution reaction journal April 2020
Reducing Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and field-free spin-orbit torque switching in synthetic antiferromagnets journal May 2021
High-resolution X-ray luminescence extension imaging journal February 2021
Electronic structure of AlFeN films exhibiting crystallographic orientation change from c- to a-axis with Fe concentrations and annealing effect journal February 2020
Nd 2 K 2 IrO 7 and Sm 2 K 2 IrO 7 : Iridium(VI) Oxides Prepared under Ambient Pressure journal January 2009
Investigation of the Charge Compensation Mechanism on the Electrochemically Li-Ion Deintercalated Li1-xCo1/3Ni1/3Mn1/3O2 Electrode System by Combination of Soft and Hard X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy. journal March 2006
Spectroscopic Signature of Oxidized Oxygen States in Peroxides text January 2018

Cited By (15)

Tuning Oxygen Redox Chemistry in Li‐Rich Mn‐Based Layered Oxide Cathodes by Modulating Cation Arrangement journal September 2019
Insight of a Phase Compatible Surface Coating for Long‐Durable Li‐Rich Layered Oxide Cathode journal July 2019
Fundamental Insights from a Single‐Crystal Sodium Iridate Battery journal March 2020
Reversible Oxygen Redox Chemistry in Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries journal April 2019
Anisotropically Electrochemical–Mechanical Evolution in Solid‐State Batteries and Interfacial Tailored Strategy journal November 2019
Reversible Oxygen Redox Chemistry in Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries journal May 2019
Anisotropically Electrochemical–Mechanical Evolution in Solid‐State Batteries and Interfacial Tailored Strategy journal November 2019
Manganese oxidation as the origin of the anomalous capacity of Mn-containing Li-excess cathode materials journal July 2019
Ultrahigh power and energy density in partially ordered lithium-ion cathode materials journal March 2020
Voltage decay and redox asymmetry mitigation by reversible cation migration in lithium-rich layered oxide electrodes journal January 2020
A paradigm of storage batteries journal January 2019
Cation-disordered rocksalt transition metal oxides and oxyfluorides for high energy lithium-ion cathodes journal January 2020
Depth-dependent oxygen redox activity in lithium-rich layered oxide cathodes journal January 2019
Charge-transfer descriptor for the cycle performance of β-Li 2 MO 3 cathodes: role of oxygen dimers journal January 2020
Cation insertion to break the activity/stability relationship for highly active oxygen evolution reaction catalyst journal March 2020