Electronic structure of Ti4Fe2Ox as determined from first-principles APWÂ +Â LO calculations and X-ray spectroscopy data

Electronic properties of Ti4Fe2O oxide, a very promising hydrogen-storage material, were studied both from theoretical and experimental points of view employing the first-principles band-structure augmented plane wave + local orbitals (APW + LO) method with the WIEN2k code as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (SXES). Total and partial densities of states of the constituent atoms of Ti4Fe2O have been derived from the APW + LO calculations. The XPS valence-band spectra as well as the SXES Ti Lα, Fe Lα and O Kα bands have been measured for a series of Ti4Fe2Ox oxides (x = 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25). The present APW + LO calculations reveal that, the O 2p-like states are the dominant contributors into the bottom of the valence band, whilst the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band of Ti4Fe2O are dominated by contributions of the Fe 3d- and Ti 3d-like states. The APW + LO results are confirmed experimentally by a comparison on a common energy scale of the XPS valence-band spectra and the SXES Ti Lα, Fe Lα and O Kα bands of the Ti4Fe2Ox oxides. The XPS Ti 2p, Fe 2p and O 1s core-level binding energies have been measured for the compounds under consideration.