Charge storage in oxygen deficient phases of TiO2: defect Physics without defects.

Defects in semiconductors can exhibit multiple charge states, which can be used for charge storage applications. Here we consider such charge storage in a series of oxygen deficient phases of TiO2, known as Magnéli phases. These Magnéli phases (TinO2n-1) present well-defined crystalline structures, i.e., their deviation from stoichiometry is accommodated by changes in space group as opposed to point defects. We show that these phases exhibit intermediate bands with an electronic quadruple donor transitions akin to interstitial Ti defect levels in rutile TiO2. Thus, the Magnéli phases behave as if they contained a very large pseudo-defect density: ½ per formula unit TinO2n-1. Depending on the Fermi Energy the whole material will become charged. These crystals are natural charge storage materials with a storage capacity that rivals the best known supercapacitors.

A search for the ground state structure and the phase stability of tantalum pentoxide.

Tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) is a wide-gap semiconductor that presents good catalytic and dielectric properties, conferring to this compound promising prospective use in a variety of technological applications. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding the relations among its crystalline phases, as some of them are not even completely characterized and there is currently no agreement about which models better explain the crystallographic data. Additionally, its phase diagram is unknown. In this work we performed first-principles density functional theory calculations to study the structural properties of the different phases and models of Ta2O5, the equation of state and the zone-centered vibrational frequencies. From our results, we conclude that the phases that are built up from only distorted octahedra instead of combinations with pentagonal and/or hexagonal bipyramids are energetically more favorable and dynamically stable. More importantly, this study establishes that, given the pressure range considered, the B-phase is the most favorable structure and there is no a crystallographic phase transition to another phase at high-pressure. Additionally, for the equilibrium volume of the B-phase and the λ-model, the description of the electronic structure and optical properties were performed using semi-local and hybrid functionals.