Localisation assisted by the lattice relaxation and the optical absorption of extra-framework electrons in 12CaO·Al2O3

The crystalline framework of a complex oxide 12CaO·7Al2O3 (C12A7) is built from positively charged sub-nanometer cages able to trap electrons. An embedded cluster approach is used to study the electronic structure and optical properties of electron-containing C12A7 for different concentration of extra-framework electrons. Our results suggest that the conduction band of the C12A7 consists of a relatively narrow band of empty cage states (cage conduction band) with one-electron energies between 5.5 and 6.1 eV above the top of the valence band (VB), and a framework conduction band at about 6.7 - 7.0 eV above the to of the VB. The gap between the cage conduction band and the framework conduction band is estimated to be about 1 - 1.5 eV. The energies of the lowest optical transitions from the top of the valence band to the cage conduction band are predicted to be at 5.2 - 5.5 eV. The extra-electrons occupy cage states, which split from the cage conduction band to about 4 eV above the top of the VB. The extra-framework electrons introduce two absorption bands with the experimental peaks at 0.4 eV and 2.8 eV. These bands are assigned to the inter-cage charge transfer and the intra-cage s-p transitions respectively. The changes in the optical absorption spectra as a function of the extra-electrons concentration are also discussed.