XES Spectra Research Articles

Resonant Excitation Unlocks Chemical Selectivity of Platinum Lβ Valence-to-Core X-ray Emission Spectra.

Valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy (VtC XES) is an emerging technique that uses hard X-rays to probe the valence electronic structure of an absorbing atom. Despite finding varied applications for light elements and first row transition metals, little work has been done on heavier elements such as second and third row transition metals. This lack of application is at least partially due to the relatively low resolution of the data at the high energies required to measure these elements, which obscures the useful chemical information that can be extracted from the lower energy, higher resolution spectra of lighter elements. Herein, we collect data on a set of platinum-containing compounds and demonstrate that the VtC XES resolution can be dramatically enhanced by exciting the platinum atom in resonance with its L3-edge white line absorption. Whereas spectra excited using standard nonresonant absorption well above the Pt L3-edge display broad, unfeatured VtC regions, resonant XES (RXES) spectra have more than twofold improved resolution and are revealed to be rich in chemical information with the ability to distinguish between even closely related species. We further demonstrate that these RXES spectra may be used to selectively probe individual components of a mixture of Pt-containing compounds, establishing this technique as a viable probe for chemically complex samples. Lastly, it is shown that the spectra are interpretable using a molecular orbital framework and may be calculated using density functional theory, thus suggesting resonant excitation as a general strategy for extracting chemically useful information from heavy element VtC spectra.

Towards structural reconstruction from X-ray spectra.

We report a statistical analysis of Ge K-edge X-ray emission spectra simulated for amorphous GeO2 at elevated pressures. We find that employing machine learning approaches we can reliably predict the statistical moments of the Kβ'' and Kβ2 peaks in the spectrum from the Coulomb matrix descriptor with a training set of ∼ 104 samples. Spectral-significance-guided dimensionality reduction techniques allow us to construct an approximate inverse mapping from spectral moments to pseudo-Coulomb matrices. When applying this to the moments of the ensemble-mean spectrum, we obtain distances from the active site that match closely to those of the ensemble mean and which moreover reproduce the pressure-induced coordination change in amorphous GeO2. With this approach utilizing emulator-based component analysis, we are able to filter out the artificially complete structural information available from simulated snapshots, and quantitatively analyse structural changes that can be inferred from the changes in the Kβ emission spectrum alone.

Effects of H-bond asymmetry on the electronic properties of liquid water – An AIMD analysis

The effects of an asymmetric environment on the electronic properties of a water molecule in liquid water are in focus in this paper and were analysed from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of liquid water at 300 and 350 K with the BLYP-D3 functional. We make the following observations. (1) The electronic DOS and the net molecular charge are more affected by the asymmetry of the water molecule's H-bond surroundings than by the number of H-bonded neighbours. The reverse is true for the dipole moment. (2) For all three properties, a 3-coordinated water molecule is more perturbed by accepting two H-bonds and donating one than by donating two and accepting one. (3) This order is not maintained in the calculated XES spectrum, which is less straightforward to interpret in terms of structure-property relationships than the DOS spectrum.

A Restricted Open Configuration Interaction with Singles Method To Calculate Valence-to-Core Resonant X-ray Emission Spectra: A Case Study.

In this work, a new protocol for the calculation of valence-to-core resonant X-ray emission (VtC RXES) spectra is introduced. The approach is based on the previously developed restricted open configuration interaction with singles (ROCIS) method and its parametrized version, based on a ground-state Kohn–Sham determinant (DFT/ROCIS) method. The ROCIS approach has the following features: (1) In the first step approximation, many-particle eigenstates are calculated in which the total spin is retained as a good quantum number. (2) The ground state with total spin S and excited states with spin S′ = S, S ± 1, are obtained. (3) These states have a qualitatively correct multiplet structure. (4) Quasi-degenerate perturbation theory is used to treat the spin–orbit coupling operator variationally at the many-particle level. (5) Transition moments are obtained between the relativistic many-particle states. The method has shown great potential in the field of X-ray spectroscopy, in particular in the field of transition-metal L-edge, which cannot be described correctly with particle–hole theories. In this work, the method is extended to the calculation of resonant VtC RXES [alternatively referred to as 1s-VtC resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS)] spectra. The complete Kramers–Dirac–Heisenerg equation is taken into account. Thus, state interference effects are treated naturally within this protocol. As a first application of this protocol, a computational study on the previously reported VtC RXES plane on a molecular managanese(V) complex is performed. Starting from conventional X-ray absorption spectra (XAS), we present a systematic study that involves calculations and electronic structure analysis of both the XAS and non-resonant and resonant VtC XES spectra. The very good agreement between theory and experiment, observed in all cases, allows us to unravel the complicated intensity mechanism of these spectroscopic techniques as a synergic function of state polarization and interference effects. In general, intense features in the RIXS spectra originate from absorption and emission processes that involve nonorthogonal transition moments. We also present a graphical method to determine the sign of the interference contributions.

Charge and Spin-State Characterization of Cobalt Bis(o-dioxolene) Valence Tautomers Using Co Kβ X-ray Emission and L-Edge X-ray Absorption Spectroscopies.

The valence tautomeric states of Co(phen)(3,5-DBQ)2 and Co(tmeda)(3,5-DBQ)2, where 3,5-DBQ is either the semiquinone (SQ-) or catecholate (Cat2-) form of 3,5-di-tert-butyl-1,2-benzoquinone, have been examined by a series of cobalt-specific X-ray spectroscopies. In this work, we have utilized the sensitivity of 1s3p X-ray emission spectroscopy (Kβ XES) to the oxidation and spin states of 3d transition-metal ions to determine the cobalt-specific electronic structure of valence tautomers. A comparison of their Kβ XES spectra with the spectra of cobalt coordination complexes with known oxidation and spin states demonstrates that the low-temperature valence tautomer can be described as a low-spin CoIII configuration and the high-temperature valence tautomer as a high-spin CoII configuration. This conclusion is further supported by Co L-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (L-edge XAS) of the high-temperature valence tautomers and ligand-field atomic-multiplet calculations of the Kβ XES and L-edge XAS spectra. The nature and strength of the magnetic exchange interaction between the cobalt center and SQ- in cobalt valence tautomers is discussed in view of the effective spin at the Co site from Kβ XES and the molecular spin moment from magnetic susceptibility measurements.

Kβ Valence to Core X-ray Emission Studies of Cu(I) Binding Proteins with Mixed Methionine - Histidine Coordination. Relevance to the Reactivity of the M- and H-sites of Peptidylglycine Monooxygenase.

Biological systems use copper as a redox center in many metalloproteins, where the role of the metal is to cycle between its +1 and +2 oxidation states. This chemistry requires the redox potential to be in a range that can stabilize both Cu(I) and Cu(II) states and often involves protein-derived ligand sets involving mixed histidine-methionine coordination that balance the preferences of both oxidation states. Transport proteins, on the other hand, utilize copper in the Cu(I) state and often contain sites comprised predominately of the cuprophilic residue methionine. The electronic factors that allow enzymes and transporters to balance their redox requirements are complex and are often elusive due to the dearth of spectroscopic probes of the Cu(I) state. Here we present the novel application of X-ray emission spectroscopy to copper proteins via a study of a series of mixed His-Met copper sites where the ligand set varies in a systematic way between the His3 and Met3 limits. The sites are derived from the wild-type peptidylglycine monooxygenase (PHM), two single-site variants which replicate each of its two copper sites (CuM-site and CuH-site), and the transporters CusF and CusB. Clear differences are observed in the Kβ2,5 region at the Met3 and His3 limits. CusB (Met3) has a distinct peak at 8978.4 eV with a broad shoulder at 8975.6 eV, whereas CuH (His3) has two well-resolved features: a more intense feature at 8974.8 eV and a second at 8977.2 eV. The mixed coordination sphere CusF (Met2His) and the PHM CuM variant (Met1His2) have very similar spectra consisting of two features at 8975.2 and 8977.8 eV. An analysis of DFT calculated spectra indicate that the intensity of the higher energy peak near 8978 eV is mediated by mixing of ligand-based orbitals into the Cu d(10) manifold, with S from Met providing more intensity by facilitating increased Cu p-d mixing. Furthermore, reaction of WT PHM with CO (an oxygen analogue) produced the M site CO complex, which showed a unique XES spectrum that could be computationally reproduced by including interactions between Cu(I) and the CO ligand. The study suggests that the valence-to-core (VtC) region can not only serve as a probe of ligand speciation but also offer insight into the coordination geometry, in a fashion similar to XAS pre-edges, and may be sufficiently sensitive to the coordination of exogenous ligands to be useful in the study of reaction mechanisms.

A theoretical study on the pH dependence of X-ray emission spectra for aqueous acetic acid

We performed theoretical calculations to reproduce the site-selective XES spectra for aqueous acetic acid at the oxygen K-edge. The shape of the experimental XES spectra obtained from aqueous acetic acid drastically changed when the pH value was high. Structure sampling of an aqueous acetic acid cluster model was performed by the ab initio molecular dynamics trajectory. Relative XES peak intensities for the core⿿hole excited state dynamics simulations were calculated using density functional theory. We found that the theoretical XES spectra reproduced well the experimental spectra and that these calculations gave us electronic and molecular structure information about aqueous acetic acid.

Local energy gap opening induced by hemin dimerization in aqueous solution.

The local electronic structure of the hemin Fe center has been investigated by X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy (XAS/XES) for hemin in aqueous solution where hemin dimerization occurs. The XAS and XES spectra of the hemin dimer were then compared with those of the hemin monomer we previously studied in dimethyl sulfoxide solution. A local energy gap opening at the Fe sites was observed for the hemin dimer, with the occupied valence states shifted to lower binding energies, while the unoccupied valence states share the same energies as the hemin monomer. Such a gap opening is argued to originate from the Fe 3d orbital localization induced by hemin dimerization in aqueous solution.

A new LaCo0.71(1)V0.29(1)O2.97(3) perovskite containing vanadium in octahedral sites: synthesis and structural and magnetic characterization.

In the course of an investigation to prepare the hypothetic new double perovskite La(3)Co(2)VO(9) with Co(2+) and V(5+) in octahedral sites, we obtained the new simple perovskite LaCo(0.71(1))V(0.29(1))O(2.97(3)) as the main phase. The pure compound was then synthesized by the citrate decomposition method. The crystal structure was studied by X-ray (PXRD) and powder neutron diffraction (PND). Physical properties were characterized by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Rietveld refinements were performed in the orthorhombic space group Pnma (#62). Refined cell parameters were a = 5.4762(2) Å, b = 7.7609(2) Å and c = 5.5122(1) Å. Magnetization measurements showed that this perovskite is an antiferromagnet with a Neel temperature of 15 K. At high T the magnetization follows the Curie-Weiss law corrected by temperature independent paramagnetism (TIP) showing an effective magnetic moment of 3.03μ(B) well described by the contribution of Co(2+) (HS), Co(3+) (IS), V(3+) and V(4+) ions. The crystallographic formula was refined by PND and oxidation state distribution was determined by the combination of PND, XAS, TGA and magnetic measurements.

Ligand-sensitive but not ligand-diagnostic: evaluating Cr valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy as a probe of inner-sphere coordination.

This paper explores the strengths and limitations of valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy (V2C XES) as a probe of coordination environments. A library was assembled from spectra obtained for 12 diverse Cr complexes and used to calibrate density functional theory (DFT) calculations of V2C XES band energies. A functional dependence study was undertaken to benchmark predictive accuracy. All 7 functionals tested reproduce experimental V2C XES energies with an accuracy of 0.5 eV. Experimentally calibrated, DFT calculated V2C XES spectra of 90 Cr compounds were used to produce a quantitative spectrochemical series showing the V2C XES band energy ranges for ligands comprising 18 distinct classes. Substantial overlaps are detected in these ranges, which complicates the use of V2C XES to identify ligands in the coordination spheres of unknown Cr compounds. The ligand-dependent origins of V2C intensity are explored for a homologous series of [CrIII(NH3)5X]2+ (X = F, Cl, Br, and I) to rationalize the variable intensity contributions of these ligand classes.

Determination of the local structure in metal-complexes by combining XAS and XES

Nanoscale local atomic structure determines most of unique properties of novel materials without long range order. To study its fine details one has to use both computer nanodesign and advanced experimental methods for nanodiagnostics. The status of modern theoretical analysis of the experimental x-ray absorption spectra to extract structural parameters is presented. Novel in-situ technique for nanodiagnostics - extracting of 3D structure parameters on the basis of advanced quantitative analysis of X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) - has been developed. The possibility to extract information on bond angles and bond-lengths (with accuracy up to 0.002 nm) is demonstrated and it opens new perspectives of quantitative XANES analysis as a 3D local structure probe for any type of materials without long range order in atoms positions (all nanostructured materials and free clusters belong to this class of materials). Even more possibilities are opening by using simultaneously several experimental synchrotron based techniques: XANES and XES and/or RIXS. In the framework of these approaches, the results of recent studies of local atomic structure for several types of nanostructures including nanoclusters with different types of chemical bonding, core-shell nanoneedles and thin films of dilute magnetic semiconductors, 5d-transition metal-organic complexes, Cu1+ and Cu2+ binding sites in amyloid-β peptide, Co aqua complexes in aqueous solution, nanostructured materials for hydrogen storage and nanocatalysts based on zeolites and MOF are reported. Along with the calculations of conventional XANES and XES, we show a possibility to simulate core-to-core and valence-to-core RIXS as well. Molecular orbitals (or DOS) of metal complexes can be directly related to the peaks in XES spectra in RIXS maps. This information is essential for understanding of electronic structure of metal complexes and design of novel materials.

Experimental and computational X-ray emission spectroscopy as a direct probe of protonation states in oxo-bridged Mn(IV) dimers relevant to redox-active metalloproteins.

The protonation state of oxo bridges in nature is of profound importance for a variety of enzymes, including the Mn4CaO5 cluster of photosystem II and the Mn2O2 cluster in Mn catalase. A set of dinuclear bis-μ-oxo-bridged Mn(IV) complexes in different protonation states was studied by Kβ emission spectroscopy to form the foundation for unraveling the protonation states in the native complex. The valence-to-core regions (valence-to-core XES) of the spectra show significant changes in intensity and peak position upon protonation. DFT calculations were performed to simulate the valence-to-core XES spectra and to assign the spectral features to specific transitions. The Kβ(2,5) peaks arise primarily from the ligand 2p to Mn 1s transitions, with a characteristic low energy shoulder appearing upon oxo-bridge protonation. The satellite Kβ" peak provides a more direct signature of the protonation state change, since the transitions originating from the 2s orbitals of protonated and unprotonated μ-oxo bridges dominate this spectral region. The energies of the Kβ" features differ by ~3 eV and thus are well resolved in the experimental spectra. Additionally, our work explores the chemical resolution limits of the method, namely, whether a mixed (μ-O)(μ-OH2) motif can be distinguished from a symmetric (μ-OH)2 one. The results reported here highlight the sensitivity of Kβ valence-to-core XES to single protonation state changes of bridging ligands, and form the basis for further studies of oxo-bridged polymetallic complexes and metalloenzyme active sites. In a complementary paper, the results from X-ray absorption spectroscopy of the same Mn(IV) dimer series are discussed.

Valence‐to‐Core X‐Ray Emission Spectroscopy of Iron–Carbonyl Complexes: Implications for the Examination of Catalytic Intermediates

Valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy (V2C XES) has been applied to a series of compounds relevant to both homogeneous catalysts and intermediates in heterogeneous reactions, namely [Fe(CO)5], [Fe2(CO)9], [Fe3(CO)12], [Fe(CO)3(cod)] (cod=cyclo-octadienyl), [Fe2Cp2(CO)4] (Cp=cyclo-pentadienyl), [Fe2Cp*2(CO)4] (Cp*=tetramethylcyclopentadienyl), and [FeCp(CO)2(thf)][B(ArF)4] (ArF=pentafluorophenyl). DFT calculations of the V2C XES spectra show very good agreement with experiment, which allows for an in depth analysis of the origins of the observed spectral signatures. It is demonstrated that the observed spectral features can be broken down into specific ligand and metal fragment contributions. The relative intensities of the observed features are further explained through a quantitative investigation of the metal 3p and 4p contributions to the spectra. The ability to use V2C XES to separate carbonyl, hydrocarbon, and solvent contributions is highlighted.

Polarization-dependent Ti K X-ray absorption and emission studies of Ti 2O 3 single crystal

Polarization-dependent Ti K X-ray absorption and Ti K α X-ray emission spectroscopy (XAS and XES) experiments have been carried out for single-crystalline Ti 2O 3 with metal-insulator transition (MIT) around 450 K. Both the XAS and XES spectra exhibit remarkable polarization dependences between E // c and E ⊥ c conditions, where the c-axis is parallel to the Ti ion pair direction and E represents a polarization vector of incident photons. The main peak of the E // c-XAS spectrum is 3 eV lower in energy than the E ⊥ c-spectrum at 300 K, reflecting the highly anisotropic unoccupied Ti 4p states, and the energy separation of the main peaks decreases to 2 eV at 520 K, in consistent with the reduced anisotropy of electronic structure followed by MIT. The broad features of the Ti K α XES spectra taken far below the Ti K absorption edge are similar to the XAS features including the polarization dependence, suggesting that the 2p4p monopole excitation causes the broad XES features, where 2p denotes a 2p core hole.

Holes in the Valence Band of Superconducting Boron-Doped Diamond Film Studied by Soft X-ray Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy

Carbon- and boron-2 p states of superconducting and non-superconducting boron-doped diamond (BDD) samples are measured using soft X-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy (XES and XAS) near C- and B-K edges. The electronic structure of B 2 p does not show a marked boron-doping dependence, except that a considerable amount of in-gap state in empty states is observed. In C-K XAS spectra, two peaks H and I are observed around the Fermi level. The H peak is attributed to 2 p state of carbon first-nearest neighboring to the dopant boron atoms (1NN-C), and the I peak to 2 p state of carbon further than 1NN-C from an impurity boron. Incoherent (normal-excitation) XES spectra do not show a large chemical shift by B-doping, but its intensity just below the valence band maximum (VBM) decreases with B-doping. It cannot be interpreted within a simple rigid band model. An elastic peak of I -excited C-K XES spectrum and the width of I -peak of C-K XAS spectrum suggest that impurity state is localized in non-supercond...

Electronic structure of nanostructured ZnO from x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy and the local density approximation

$\mathrm{O}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}1s$ absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and $\mathrm{O}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}K\ensuremath{\alpha}$ emission spectroscopy (XES) were performed to study the electronic structure of nanostructured ZnO. The band gap is determined by the combined absorption-emission spectrum. Resonantly excited XES spectra showing an energy dependence in the spectral shape reveal the selected excitations to the different $\mathrm{Zn}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}3d$, $4s$, and $4p$ states in hybridization with $\mathrm{O}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}2p$ states. The partial density of state obtained from local density approximation (LDA) and $\mathrm{LDA}+U$ calculations are compared with the experimental results. The $\mathrm{LDA}+U$ approach is suitable to correct LDA self-interaction error of the cation $d$ states. The atomic eigenstates of $3d$ in zinc and $2p$ in oxygen are energetically close, which induces the strong interaction between $\mathrm{Zn}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}3d$ and $\mathrm{O}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}2p$ states. This anomalous valence band cation-$d$--anion-$p$ hybridization is verified by taking into account the strong localization of the $\mathrm{Zn}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}3d$ states.

On the structural and electronic properties of poly(dicarbon monofluoride): solid-state semi-empirical INDO study

Three-dimensional semi-empirical quantum chemical calculations of the structural and electronic properties of the fluorine intercalated graphite compound poly(dicarbon monofluoride)—(C 2F) n have been performed for several possible stacking sequences of puckered trans-cyclohexane chair layers. Such basic structure consisting from carbon hexagons in chair conformation has been confirmed. Furthermore, based on the geometry optimization, 12 structural sequences have been found to provide a local minima on the potential hypersurface, from which four are considerably more stable and one can assume their statistical distribution in the real poly(dicarbon monofluoride). This is also indicated by comparison with recent Kα XES spectra. In such arrangement the maximal entropy contribution leads to the minimum Gibbs energy of the system. Band structure calculations show that the most stable sequences have insulating properties, which implies that the real poly(carbon monofluoride) behaves as an insulator. The conductive properties of some less stable sequences result from particular interlayer interactions.

Mn K-edge XANES and Kbeta XES studies of two Mn-oxo binuclear complexes: investigation of three different oxidation states relevant to the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II.

Two structurally homologous Mn compounds in different oxidation states were studied to investigate the relative influence of oxidation state and ligand environment on Mn K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and Mn Kbeta X-ray emission spectroscopy (Kbeta XES). The two manganese compounds are the di-mu-oxo compound [L'2Mn(III)O2Mn(IV)L'2](ClO4)3, where L' is 1,10-phenanthroline (Cooper, S. R.; Calvin, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1977, 99, 6623-6630) and the linear mono-mu-oxo compound [LMn(III)OMn(III)L](ClO4)2, where L- is the monoanionic N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-N'-salicylidene-1,2-diaminoethane ligand (Horner, O.; Anxolabéhère-Mallart, E.; Charlot, M. F.; Tchertanov, L.; Guilhem, J.; Mattioli, T. A.; Boussac, A.; Girerd, J.-J. Inorg. Chem. 1999, 38, 1222-1232). Preparative bulk electrolysis in acetonitrile was used to obtain higher oxidation states of the compounds: the Mn(IV)Mn(IV) species for the di-mu-oxo compound and the Mn(III)Mn(IV) and Mn(IV)Mn(IV) species for the mono-mu-oxo compound. IR, UV/vis, EPR, and EXAFS spectra were used to determine the purity and integrity of the various sample solutions. The Mn K-edge XANES spectra shift to higher energy upon oxidation when the ligand environment remains similar. However, shifts in energy are also observed when only the ligand environment is altered. This is achieved by comparing the di-mu-oxo and linear mono-mu-oxo Mn-Mn moieties in equivalent oxidation states, which represent major structural changes. The magnitude of an energy shift due to major changes in ligand environment can be as large as that of an oxidation-state change. Therefore, care must be exercised when correlating the Mn K-edge energies to manganese oxidation states without taking into account the nature of the ligand environment and the overall structure of the compound. In contrast to Mn K-edge XANES, Kbeta XES spectra show less dependence on ligand environment. The Kbeta1,3 peak energies are comparable for the di-mu-oxo and mono-mu-oxo compounds in equivalent oxidation states. The energy shifts observed due to oxidation are also similar for the two different compounds. The study of the different behavior of the XANES pre-edge and main-edge features in conjunction with Kbeta XES provides significant information about the oxidation state and character of the ligand environment of manganese atoms.

Electronic structure of the mixed-valent system V2−xMoxO5

We have investigated the electronic structure of the mixed-valent system V2−xMoxO5 with varying doping concentration by means of X-ray photoelectron and X-ray emission spectroscopy. A series of V2−xMoxO5 compounds was obtained by the hydrochemical method. By comparing the XPS valence band with the V Lα, O Kα and Mo Lβ2.15 XES spectra we could localize the V3d, Mo4d and O2p states in the valence band. It has been found that in the course of the Mo doping, the density of states just below the Fermi level increases. The enhancement is due to both Mo4d and V3d states and seems to be relatively unaffected by the hybridization with O2p states situated at higher binding energies. The trends in the measured spectra are discussed in comparison to band structure calculations performed for defect-containing supercells.

Correlating Electronic Structure with Cycling Performance of Substituted LiMn2O4 Electrode Materials: A Study Using the Techniques of Soft X-ray Absorption and Emission

Rechargeable batteries using LiMn2O4 cathodes are commercially attractive, if the problem of excessive capacity fading can be overcome. The cycling properties of these systems can be improved by partial metal substitution for the Mn. To understand the correlation between electrode performance and composition, Mn, Co, and Ni L-edge XAS and XES spectra of a series of LiMn2-yMeyO4 samples (Me = Co, Ni, Li) were recorded. Cobalt is shown to substitute into the spinel system as Co(III) and nickel as Ni(II). A positive correlation between the cycling stability of the electrode and the covalency of the Mn is observed.