Electronic structures and thermodynamic stabilities of aluminum-based deuterides from first principles calculations

The alanates (complex aluminohydrides) have relatively high gravimetric hydrogen densities and are among the most promising solid-state hydrogen-storage materials. In this work, the electronic structures and the formation enthalpies of seven typical aluminum-based deuterides have been calculated by the plane-wave pseudopotential method, these being AlD₃, LiAlD₄, Li₃AlD₆, BaAlD₅, Ba₂AlD₇, LiMg(AlD₄)₃ and LiMgAlD₆. The results show that all these compounds are large band gap insulators at 0 K with estimated band gaps from 2.31 eV in AlD₃ to 4.96 eV in LiMg(AlD₄)₃. The band gaps are reduced when the coordination of Al varies from 4 to 6. Two peaks present in the valence bands are the common characteristics of aluminum-based deuterides containing AlD₄ subunits while three peaks are the common characteristics of those containing AlD₆ subunits. The electronic structures of these compounds are determined mainly by aluminum deuteride complexes (AlD₄ or AlD₆) and their mutual interactions. The predicted formation enthalpies are presented for the studied aluminum-based deuterides.