Surface phase diagram and stability of (001) and (111) LiM n2 O4 spinel oxides

Soo Kim, Muratahan Aykol, C. Wolverton*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

66 Scopus citations

Abstract

The (001) and (111) surface structures of the LiMn2O4 (LMO) spinel are examined using density functional theory (DFT) calculations within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA)+U approach. In order to clarify discrepancies in the literature for previous DFT calculations of these surfaces, we first carefully study the effects of surface termination/reconstruction, slab construction, and relaxation schemes, as well as magnetic ordering and U values for Mn on the calculated surface energies of LMO. We explain these discrepancies and show that the relaxation scheme and surface reconstruction play the key role in determining the relative stability of (001) and (111) surfaces. We have further analyzed the thermodynamic stability of LMO surfaces as a function of oxygen and lithium chemical potentials. We have found that the ratio of (001) to (111) surface energies is ∼1.09 up to the oxygen chemical potential corresponding to ∼800K. This ratio favors the formation of truncated-octahedron shaped LMO particles dominated by Li-terminated reconstructed (111) facets with no surface Mn, which can help suppress Mn dissolution. Higher temperatures or closed systems (with no exchange of material with surroundings) favor the formation of (001) dominated particles. The observation of a wide spectrum of polyhedral shapes between (001)- and (111)-dominated LMO particles in experiments can be explained by the narrow range of surface energies and their sensitivity to synthesis conditions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number115411
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume92
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 10 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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