Interaction of Intercalated Li + Ions with Oxygen Vacancies in Rutile TiO 2

Point defects are known to affect transport properties of materials. The effect of oxygen vacancies on the diffusion of Li+ ions in rutile TiO2 is investigated using an embedded cluster method. The calculated Li+ diffusion pathway in vacancy-containing lattice is similar to that found for the ideal lattice. However, vacancies strongly modify the shape of the Li+ potential energy surface and increase the diffusion activation energies by the factor of two.