Electrides have valence electrons that occupy free space in the crystal structure, making them easier to extract. This feature can be used in catalysis for important reactions that usually requires a high-temperature and high-pressure environments, such as ammonia synthesis. In this paper, we use density functional theory to investigate the behaviour of interstitial electrons of the 1-dimensional electride Sr3CrN3. We find that the bulk excess electron density persists on introduction of surface terminations, that the crystal termination perpendicular to the 1D free-electron channel is highly stable and we confirm an extremely low work function with hybrid functional methods. Our results indicate that Sr3CrN3 is a potentially important novel catalyst, with accessible, directional and extractable free electron density.
@article{arxiv.2108.12865,
title = {Ultralow Work Function of the Electride Sr$_3$CrN$_3$},
author = {Cuicui Wang and Miaoting Xu and Keith T. Butler and Lee A. Burton},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.12865},
year = {2022}
}