Multi-electron reaction and fast Al ion diffusion of δ-MnO_(2) cathode materials in rechargeable aluminum batteries via first-principle calculations

Rechargeable aluminum batteries with multi-electron reaction have a high theoretical capacity for next generation of energy storage devices. However, the diffusion mechanism and intrinsic property of Al insertion into MnO_(2) are not clear. Hence, based on the first-principles calculations, key influencing factors of slow Al-ions diffusion are narrow pathways, unstable Al-O bonds and Mn^(3+) type polaron have been identified by investigating four types of δ-MnO_(2)(O3, O'3, P2 and T1). Although Al insert into δ-MnO_(2) leads to a decrease in the spacing of the Mn-Mn layer, P2 type MnO_(2) keeps the long(spacious pathways)and stable(2.007–2.030 A) Al-O bonds resulting in the lower energy barrier of Al diffusion of 0.56 e V. By eliminated the influence of Mn^(3+)(low concentration of Al insertion), the energy barrier of Al migration achieves 0.19 e V in P2 type, confirming the obviously effect of Mn^(3+) polaron. On the contrary, although the T1 type MnO_(2) has the sluggish of Al-ions diffusion, the larger interlayer spacing of Mn-Mn layer,causing by H_(2)O could assist Al-ions diffusion. Furthermore, it is worth to notice that the multilayer δ-MnO_(2) achieves multi-electron reaction of 3|e|. Considering the requirement of high energy density, the average voltage of P2(1.76 V) is not an obstacle for application as cathode in RABs. These discover suggest that layered MnO_(2) should keep more P2-type structure in the synthesis of materials and increase the interlayer spacing of Mn-Mn layer for providing technical support of RABs in large-scale energy storage.