Unraveling the effects of inter-site Hubbard interactions in spinel Li-ion cathode materials.

Accurate first-principles predictions of the structural, electronic, magnetic, and electrochemical properties of cathode materials can be key in the design of novel efficient Li-ion batteries. Spinel-type cathode materials LiMnO and LiMnNiO are promising candidates for Li-ion battery technologies, but they present serious challenges when it comes to their first-principles modeling. Here, we use density-functional theory with extended Hubbard functionals-DFT++ with on-site and inter-site Hubbard interactions-to study the properties of these transition-metal oxides. The Hubbard parameters are computed from first-principles using density-functional perturbation theory. We show that while is crucial to obtain the right trends in properties of these materials, is essential for a quantitative description of the structural and electronic properties, as well as the Li-intercalation voltages. This work paves the way for reliable first-principles studies of other families of cathode materials without relying on empirical fitting or calibration procedures.