Covalent character of lithium compounds studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract

Fifteen lithium compounds have been studied as powders and very thin films, and all of them have been found to undergo photoreduction to varying degrees. Photoreduction leads to the formation of lithium oxide and lithium metal which exhibit clear peaks in the X-ray photoelectron spectrum. The presence of lithium compound and lithium metal in the same sample allows the measurement of the difference in metal and compound Li 1s electron binding energy to be made with some accuracy, and these values are used to calculate the charge on the lithium ion in the compounds studied.