First-principle calculations for electronic structure and bonding properties in layered Na2Ti3O7

Abstract

First-principles calculations of Na2Ti3O7 have been carried out with density-functional theory (DFT) and ultrasoft pseudopotentials. The electronic structure and bonding properties in layered Na2Ti3O7 have been studied through calculating band structure, density of states, electron density, electron density difference and Mulliken bond populations. The calculated results reveal that Na2Ti3O7 is a semiconductor with an indirect gap and exhibits both ionic and covalent characters. The stability of the (Ti3O7)2- layers is attributed to the covalent bonding of strong interactions between O 2p and Ti 3d orbitals. Furthermore, the O atoms located in the innerlayers interact more strongly with the neighboring Ti atoms than those in the interlayer regions. The ion-exchange property is due to the ionic bonding between the Na+ and (Ti3O7)2- layers, which can stabilize the interlayers of layered Na2Ti3O7 structure. © 2011 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Wien.