Directional charge delocalization dynamics in semiconducting 2H-MoS$$_{2}$$ and metallic 1T-Li$$_{\mathrm{x}}$$MoS$$_{2}$$

The layered dichalcogenide MoS$$_{2}$$ 2 is relevant for electrochemical Li adsorption/intercalation, in the course of which the material undergoes a concomitant structural phase transition from semiconducting 2H-MoS$$_{2}$$ 2 to metallic 1T-Li$$_{\mathrm{x}}$$ x MoS$$_{2}$$ 2 . With the core hole clock approach at the S L$$_{1}$$ 1 X-ray absorption edge we quantify the ultrafast directional charge transfer of excited S3p electrons in-plane ($$\parallel$$ ‖ ) and out-of-plane ($$\perp$$ ⊥ ) for 2H-MoS$$_{2}$$ 2 as $$\tau _{2H,\parallel } = 0.38 \pm 0.08$$ τ 2 H , ‖ = 0.38 ± 0.08 fs and $$\tau _{2H,\perp } = 0.33 \pm 0.06$$ τ 2 H , ⊥ = 0.33 ± 0.06 fs and for 1T-Li$$_{\mathrm{x}}$$ x MoS$$_{2}$$ 2 as $$\tau _{1T,\parallel } = 0.32 \pm 0.12$$ τ 1 T , ‖ = 0.32 ± 0.12 fs and $$\tau _{1T,\perp } = 0.09 \pm 0.07$$ τ 1 T , ⊥ = 0.09 ± 0.07 fs. The isotropic charge delocalization of S3p electrons in the semiconducting 2H phase within the S-Mo-S sheets is assigned to the specific symmetry of the Mo-S bonding arrangement. Formation of 1T-Li$$_{\mathrm{x}}$$ x MoS$$_{2}$$ 2 by lithiation accelerates the in-plane charge transfer by a factor of $$\sim 1.2$$ ∼ 1.2 due to electron injection to the Mo-S covalent bonds and concomitant structural repositioning of S atoms within the S-Mo-S sheets. For excitation into out-of-plane orbitals, an accelerated charge transfer by a factor of $$\sim 3.7$$ ∼ 3.7 upon lithiation occurs due to S-Li coupling.

Screening and understanding Li adsorption on 2-dimensional metallic materials by learning physics

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have received considerable attention as possible electrodes in Li-ion batteries (LIBs), although a deeper understanding of the Li adsorption behavior as well as broad screening of the materials space is still needed. In this work, we build a high-throughput screening scheme that incorporates a learned interaction. First, density functional theory and graph convolution networks are utilized to calculate minimum Li adsorption energies for a small set of 2D metallic materials. The data is then used to find a dependence of the minimum Li adsorption energies on the sum of ionization potential, work function of the 2D metal, and coupling energy between Li+ and substrate. Our results show that variances of elemental properties and density are the most correlated features with coupling. To illustrate the applicability of this approach, the model is employed to show that some fluorides and chromium oxides are potential high-voltage materials with adsorption energies < -7 eV, and the found physics is used as the design principle to enhance the Li adsorption ability of graphene. This physics-driven approach shows higher accuracy and transferability compared with purely data-driven models.

Al-doped H2TiO3 ion sieve with enhanced Li+ adsorption performance

H2TiO3 (HTO) is considered to be one of the most promising adsorbents for lithium recovery from aqueous lithium resources duo to its highest theoretical adsorption capacity.