First-principles investigation of adsorption and diffusion of Li on doped silicenes: Prospective materials for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract In this report, we investigate the adsorption energies and diffusion characteristics of Li atom on doped silicenes using first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our results show that the Li adsorption energy on doped silicenes is larger than pristine silicene. Based on our calculations, Al- and B-doped silicenes, due to creating an electron-deficient center in silicene, show a stronger interaction with Li atom compared to P- and N-doped silicenes. The obtained data for surface and perpendicular diffusion of Li atom show the easier mobility of Li on some doped silicenes compared to pristine silicene. According to our results, doping silicene with nitrogen and phosphorus atoms facilitates the Li surface mobility (diffusion barrier of 0.05 and 0.11 eV, respectively versus 0.18 eV for pure silicene) while, doping with aluminum, speed Li perpendicular diffusion (1.47 eV versus 1.67 eV for pristine silicene). The adsorption energy and diffusion barrier values, show the advantage of doped silicenes for use in LIBs with respect to pure silicene.