DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Hybrid DFT investigation of the energetics of Mg ion diffusion in α-MoO3

Abstract

We report that rechargeable batteries that utilize divalent Mg ions as the charge carrier species can in principle achieve substantially greater volumetric energy densities than conventional Li-ion batteries. One significant impediment to the development of commercially viable Mg-ion batteries is the slow rate of Mg ion diffusion through otherwise promising cathode materials. Accurate prediction of the activation energies associated with this diffusion process using density functional theory (DFT) is especially challenging due to self-interaction errors intrinsic to DFT that lead to over-delocalization of the d-electrons. One effective but highly computationally demanding approach to reducing self-interaction errors is the use of hybrid functionals, which incorporate a fraction of exact Hartree–Fock exchange. In this work, we assess the effects of exact exchange on computed activation energies for ion diffusion in one potential cathode material, α-MoO3. In contrast to previous studies that primarily utilize non-hybrid functionals, we perform nudged elastic band calculations in which the nuclear coordinates are fully converged using both hybrid functionals and k-point sampling. Additionally, it is found that while non-hybrid functionals indicate the existence of thermodynamically accessible channels for bulk Mg ion diffusion in all three dimensions, hybrid functionals predict that some of these channels are largely inaccessible undermore » typical charge/discharge conditions. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that certain commonly used approximations for incorporating the effects of Hartree–Fock exchange are inadequate for this system, including DFT+U calculations and the use of single-point hybrid calculations using atomic positions obtained using non-hybrid functionals.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Molecular Sciences Software Institute, Blacksburg, VA (Untied States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, Molecular Foundry
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1497952
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1471750; OSTI ID: 1490609
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-756999
Journal ID: ISSN 1463-9076; PPCPFQ; 944677
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344; AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 20; Journal Issue: 38; Journal ID: ISSN 1463-9076
Publisher:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 25 ENERGY STORAGE

Citation Formats

Barnes, Taylor A., Wan, Liwen F., Kent, Paul R. C., and Prendergast, David. Hybrid DFT investigation of the energetics of Mg ion diffusion in α-MoO3. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1039/C8CP05511D.
Barnes, Taylor A., Wan, Liwen F., Kent, Paul R. C., & Prendergast, David. Hybrid DFT investigation of the energetics of Mg ion diffusion in α-MoO3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP05511D
Barnes, Taylor A., Wan, Liwen F., Kent, Paul R. C., and Prendergast, David. Fri . "Hybrid DFT investigation of the energetics of Mg ion diffusion in α-MoO3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP05511D. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1497952.
@article{osti_1497952,
title = {Hybrid DFT investigation of the energetics of Mg ion diffusion in α-MoO3},
author = {Barnes, Taylor A. and Wan, Liwen F. and Kent, Paul R. C. and Prendergast, David},
abstractNote = {We report that rechargeable batteries that utilize divalent Mg ions as the charge carrier species can in principle achieve substantially greater volumetric energy densities than conventional Li-ion batteries. One significant impediment to the development of commercially viable Mg-ion batteries is the slow rate of Mg ion diffusion through otherwise promising cathode materials. Accurate prediction of the activation energies associated with this diffusion process using density functional theory (DFT) is especially challenging due to self-interaction errors intrinsic to DFT that lead to over-delocalization of the d-electrons. One effective but highly computationally demanding approach to reducing self-interaction errors is the use of hybrid functionals, which incorporate a fraction of exact Hartree–Fock exchange. In this work, we assess the effects of exact exchange on computed activation energies for ion diffusion in one potential cathode material, α-MoO3. In contrast to previous studies that primarily utilize non-hybrid functionals, we perform nudged elastic band calculations in which the nuclear coordinates are fully converged using both hybrid functionals and k-point sampling. Additionally, it is found that while non-hybrid functionals indicate the existence of thermodynamically accessible channels for bulk Mg ion diffusion in all three dimensions, hybrid functionals predict that some of these channels are largely inaccessible under typical charge/discharge conditions. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that certain commonly used approximations for incorporating the effects of Hartree–Fock exchange are inadequate for this system, including DFT+U calculations and the use of single-point hybrid calculations using atomic positions obtained using non-hybrid functionals.},
doi = {10.1039/C8CP05511D},
journal = {Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP},
number = 38,
volume = 20,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Sep 14 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri Sep 14 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Generalized Gradient Approximation Made Simple
journal, October 1996

  • Perdew, John P.; Burke, Kieron; Ernzerhof, Matthias
  • Physical Review Letters, Vol. 77, Issue 18, p. 3865-3868
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3865

Study of Native Defects and Transition-Metal (Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) Doping in a Zinc-Blende CdS Photocatalyst by DFT and Hybrid DFT Calculations
journal, March 2011

  • Wu, Jian-Chun; Zheng, Jianwei; Wu, Ping
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 115, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp109567c

Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 as a potential photovoltaic material: A hybrid Hartree-Fock density functional theory study
journal, March 2009


Hybrid functionals based on a screened Coulomb potential
journal, May 2003

  • Heyd, Jochen; Scuseria, Gustavo E.; Ernzerhof, Matthias
  • The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 18
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1564060

Odyssey of Multivalent Cathode Materials: Open Questions and Future Challenges
journal, February 2017

  • Canepa, Pieremanuele; Sai Gautam, Gopalakrishnan; Hannah, Daniel C.
  • Chemical Reviews, Vol. 117, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00614

Metal Halide Perovskite Polycrystalline Films Exhibiting Properties of Single Crystals
journal, September 2017


On the Way to Rechargeable Mg Batteries: The Challenge of New Cathode Materials
journal, February 2010

  • Levi, E.; Gofer, Y.; Aurbach, D.
  • Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 22, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1021/cm9016497

Calibration of the DFT/GGA+U Method for Determination of Reduction Energies for Transition and Rare Earth Metal Oxides of Ti, V, Mo, and Ce
journal, June 2011

  • Lutfalla, Suzanne; Shapovalov, Vladimir; Bell, Alexis T.
  • Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, Vol. 7, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1021/ct200202g

Rechargeable Mg Batteries with Graphene-like MoS2 Cathode and Ultrasmall Mg Nanoparticle Anode
journal, December 2010


Origin of High Photocatalytic Efficiency in Monolayer g-C 3 N 4 /CdS Heterostructure: A Hybrid DFT Study
journal, December 2015


Electron-energy-loss spectra and the structural stability of nickel oxide: An LSDA+U study
journal, January 1998

  • Dudarev, S. L.; Botton, G. A.; Savrasov, S. Y.
  • Physical Review B, Vol. 57, Issue 3, p. 1505-1509
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.57.1505

Prototype systems for rechargeable magnesium batteries
journal, October 2000

  • Aurbach, D.; Lu, Z.; Schechter, A.
  • Nature, Vol. 407, Issue 6805, p. 724-727
  • DOI: 10.1038/35037553

Slater half-occupation technique revisited: the LDA-1/2 and GGA-1/2 approaches for atomic ionization energies and band gaps in semiconductors
journal, September 2011

  • Ferreira, Luiz G.; Marques, Marcelo; Teles, Lara K.
  • AIP Advances, Vol. 1, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3624562

Optimized norm-conserving Vanderbilt pseudopotentials
journal, August 2013


MgFeSiO 4 as a potential cathode material for magnesium batteries: ion diffusion rates and voltage trends
journal, January 2017

  • Heath, Jennifer; Chen, Hungru; Islam, M. Saiful
  • Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 5, Issue 25
  • DOI: 10.1039/C7TA03201C

Electronic structure and ionic diffusion of green battery cathode material: Mg2Mo6S8
journal, August 2014


Nanostructured Mo-based electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage
journal, January 2015

  • Hu, Xianluo; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Xiaoxiao
  • Chemical Society Reviews, Vol. 44, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00350K

Electrochemical insertion of lithium, sodium, and magnesium in molybdenum(VI) oxide
journal, April 1995


An ab initio Study of Reduction of V 2 O 5 through the Formation of Oxygen Vacancies and Li Intercalation
journal, June 2008

  • Scanlon, David O.; Walsh, Aron; Morgan, Benjamin J.
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 112, Issue 26
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp711334f

New understanding on the different photocatalytic activity of wurtzite and zinc-blende CdS
journal, September 2016


Cathode materials for magnesium and magnesium-ion based batteries
journal, March 2015

  • Huie, Matthew M.; Bock, David C.; Takeuchi, Esther S.
  • Coordination Chemistry Reviews, Vol. 287
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2014.11.005

Adaptively Compressed Exchange Operator
journal, April 2016


Mg rechargeable batteries: an on-going challenge
journal, January 2013

  • Yoo, Hyun Deog; Shterenberg, Ivgeni; Gofer, Yosef
  • Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 6, Issue 8, p. 2265-2279
  • DOI: 10.1039/c3ee40871j

Structural, Electronic, and Transport Properties of Hybrid SrTiO 3 -Graphene and Carbon Nanoribbon Interfaces
journal, August 2017


Mechanisms of Lithium Intercalation and Conversion Processes in Organic–Inorganic Halide Perovskites
journal, July 2017


First-Principles Investigation of Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Nanotubes for Li and Mg Ion Battery Applications
journal, February 2015

  • Pereira, Aline O.; Miranda, Caetano R.
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 119, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp510182u

Fast oxygen diffusion and iodide defects mediate oxygen-induced degradation of perovskite solar cells
journal, May 2017

  • Aristidou, Nicholas; Eames, Christopher; Sanchez-Molina, Irene
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15218

Defect energetics in ZnO: A hybrid Hartree-Fock density functional study
journal, June 2008


High Photocatalytic Activity of Heptazine-Based g-C 3 N 4 /SnS 2 Heterojunction and Its Origin: Insights from Hybrid DFT
journal, November 2017


Improved treatment of exact exchange in Quantum ESPRESSO
journal, May 2017

  • Barnes, Taylor A.; Kurth, Thorsten; Carrier, Pierre
  • Computer Physics Communications, Vol. 214
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2017.01.008

Insights into Current Limitations of Density Functional Theory
journal, August 2008


A computational study of the insertion of Li, Na, and Mg atoms into Si(111) nanosheets
journal, November 2013


Nanostructured Layered Cathode for Rechargeable Mg-Ion Batteries
journal, July 2015


Accuracy of density functional theory in predicting formation energies of ternary oxides from binary oxides and its implication on phase stability
journal, April 2012


Building a Fast Lane for Mg Diffusion in α-MoO 3 by Fluorine Doping
journal, September 2016


Hubbard-corrected DFT energy functionals: The LDA+U description of correlated systems
journal, July 2013

  • Himmetoglu, Burak; Floris, Andrea; de Gironcoli, Stefano
  • International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, Vol. 114, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/qua.24521

A hybrid DFT based investigation of the photocatalytic activity of cation–anion codoped SrTiO 3 for water splitting under visible light
journal, January 2014

  • Modak, Brindaban; Srinivasu, K.; Ghosh, Swapan K.
  • Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., Vol. 16, Issue 44
  • DOI: 10.1039/C4CP02856B

The individual and collective effects of exact exchange and dispersion interactions on the ab initio structure of liquid water
journal, August 2014

  • DiStasio, Robert A.; Santra, Biswajit; Li, Zhaofeng
  • The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 141, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4893377

Incorrect DFT-GGA predictions of the stability of non-stoichiometric/polar dielectric surfaces: the case of Cu 2 O(111)
journal, January 2016

  • Nilius, Niklas; Fedderwitz, Hanna; Groß, Boris
  • Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 18, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1039/C5CP06933E

Magnesium ion-conducting gel polymer electrolytes dispersed with fumed silica for rechargeable magnesium battery application
journal, November 2010

  • Pandey, G. P.; Agrawal, R. C.; Hashmi, S. A.
  • Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, Vol. 15, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1007/s10008-010-1240-4

Ab initio pseudopotentials for electronic structure calculations of poly-atomic systems using density-functional theory
journal, June 1999


Efficient Atomic Self-Interaction Correction Scheme for Nonequilibrium Quantum Transport
journal, July 2007


Accurate prediction of the Si / SiO 2 interface band offset using the self-consistent ab initio DFT/LDA-1/2 method
journal, June 2009


Structural and electronic properties of CuSbS2 and CuBiS2: potential absorber materials for thin-film solar cells
journal, January 2012

  • Dufton, Jesse T. R.; Walsh, Aron; Panchmatia, Pooja M.
  • Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 20
  • DOI: 10.1039/c2cp40916j

First-principles computation of material properties: the ABINIT software project
journal, November 2002


Screened Coulomb Hybrid DFT Study on Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of Anionic and Cationic Te-Doped Anatase TiO 2
journal, June 2013

  • Harb, Moussab
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 117, Issue 25
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp400880b

Super-ion inspired colorful hybrid perovskite solar cells
journal, January 2016

  • Fang, Hong; Jena, Puru
  • Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 4, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1039/C5TA09646D

Magnesium insertion electrodes for rechargeable nonaqueous batteries — a competitive alternative to lithium?
journal, September 1999


Particle Morphology and Lithium Segregation to Surfaces of the Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 Solid Electrolyte
journal, April 2018


Single-layered V2O5 a promising cathode material for rechargeable Li and Mg ion batteries: an ab initio study
journal, January 2013

  • Wang, Zhiguo; Su, Qiulei; Deng, Huiqiu
  • Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 22
  • DOI: 10.1039/c3cp51167g

Comparative computational study of the diffusion of Li, Na, and Mg in silicon including the effect of vibrations
journal, December 2013


Toward reliable density functional methods without adjustable parameters: The PBE0 model
journal, April 1999

  • Adamo, Carlo; Barone, Vincenzo
  • The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.478522

Lithium Extraction Mechanism in Li-Rich Li 2 MnO 3 Involving Oxygen Hole Formation and Dimerization
journal, September 2016


Delocalization Error and “Functional Tuning” in Kohn–Sham Calculations of Molecular Properties
journal, June 2014

  • Autschbach, Jochen; Srebro, Monika
  • Accounts of Chemical Research, Vol. 47, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1021/ar500171t

Hybrid functional study of the NASICON-type Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 : crystal and electronic structures, and polaron–Na vacancy complex diffusion
journal, January 2015

  • Bui, Kieu My; Dinh, Van An; Okada, Susumu
  • Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 45
  • DOI: 10.1039/C5CP05323D

Investigation of the Mechanism of Mg Insertion in Birnessite in Nonaqueous and Aqueous Rechargeable Mg-Ion Batteries
journal, January 2016


In search of high performance anode materials for Mg batteries: Computational studies of Mg in Ge, Si, and Sn
journal, July 2013


Hybrid functional pseudopotentials
journal, February 2018


The influence of large cations on the electrochemical properties of tunnel-structured metal oxides
journal, November 2016

  • Yuan, Yifei; Zhan, Chun; He, Kun
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13374

Quest for Nonaqueous Multivalent Secondary Batteries: Magnesium and Beyond
journal, October 2014

  • Muldoon, John; Bucur, Claudiu B.; Gregory, Thomas
  • Chemical Reviews, Vol. 114, Issue 23
  • DOI: 10.1021/cr500049y

Oxidation energies of transition metal oxides within the GGA + U framework
journal, May 2006


Optimization algorithm for the generation of ONCV pseudopotentials
journal, November 2015


Rationale for mixing exact exchange with density functional approximations
journal, December 1996

  • Perdew, John P.; Ernzerhof, Matthias; Burke, Kieron
  • The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 105, Issue 22, p. 9982-9985
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.472933

First-Principles Study of Zigzag MoS 2 Nanoribbon As a Promising Cathode Material for Rechargeable Mg Batteries
journal, December 2011

  • Yang, Siqi; Li, Daixin; Zhang, Tianran
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 116, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp2097026

Rechargeable Mg-Ion Batteries Based on WSe 2 Nanowire Cathodes
journal, August 2013


High energy density rechargeable magnesium battery using earth-abundant and non-toxic elements
journal, July 2014

  • Orikasa, Yuki; Masese, Titus; Koyama, Yukinori
  • Scientific Reports, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/srep05622

Structural evolution of the MoO3(010) surface during lithium intercalation
journal, June 2003


Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Analysis of Mg 2+ Intercalation into Thin Film Electrodes of Layered Oxides: V 2 O 5 and MoO 3
journal, August 2013

  • Gershinsky, Gregory; Yoo, Hyun Deog; Gofer, Yosef
  • Langmuir, Vol. 29, Issue 34
  • DOI: 10.1021/la402391f

Electronic and Structural Properties of WO 3 : A Systematic Hybrid DFT Study
journal, April 2011

  • Wang, Fenggong; Di Valentin, Cristiana; Pacchioni, Gianfranco
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 115, Issue 16
  • DOI: 10.1021/jp201057m

Theoretical study on the initial stage of a magnesium battery based on a V 2 O 5 cathode
journal, January 2014

  • Zhou, Bo; Shi, Hui; Cao, Rongfang
  • Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., Vol. 16, Issue 34
  • DOI: 10.1039/C4CP02230K

First-principles study of electronic and structural properties of CuO
journal, September 2011

  • Himmetoglu, Burak; Wentzcovitch, Renata M.; Cococcioni, Matteo
  • Physical Review B, Vol. 84, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.84.115108

Voltage- and time-dependent valence state transition in cobalt oxide catalysts during the oxygen evolution reaction
journal, April 2020


Metal Halide Perovskite Polycrystalline Films Exhibiting Properties of Single Crystals
text, January 2017

  • Brenes, R.; Guo, D.; Osherov, A.
  • Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
  • DOI: 10.17863/cam.12467

First principles study of electronic and structural properties of CuO
text, January 2011


Hubbard-corrected DFT energy functionals: the LDA+U description of correlated systems
text, January 2013


Hybrid functional pseudopotentials
text, January 2017


Works referencing / citing this record:

Density Functional Theory for Battery Materials
journal, September 2019

  • He, Qiu; Yu, Bin; Li, Zhaohuai
  • ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL MATERIALS, Vol. 2, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1002/eem2.12056

Mg 2+ storage and mobility in anatase TiO 2 : the role of frustrated coordination
journal, January 2019

  • McColl, Kit; Corà, Furio
  • Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 7, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1039/c8ta09939a

Phase stability of intercalated V 2 O 5 battery cathodes elucidated through the Goldschmidt tolerance factor
journal, January 2019

  • McColl, Kit; Corà, Furio
  • Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 21, Issue 15
  • DOI: 10.1039/c9cp00170k

The effect of protons on the Mg 2+ migration in an α-V 2 O 5 cathode for magnesium batteries: a first-principles investigation
journal, January 2019

  • Ni, Dixing; Shi, Jing; Xiong, Wan
  • Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 21, Issue 14
  • DOI: 10.1039/c9cp00528e