Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations and GIPAW NMR Calculations of a Lithium Borate Glass Melt

The atomic structure of a molten 0.3Li2O-0.7B2O3 glass at 1250 K was investigated using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. The gauge including projector augmented wave (GIPAW) method was then employed for computing the chemical shift and quadrupolar coupling constant of (11)B, (17)O, and (7)Li from 764 AIMD derived structures. The chemical shift and quadrupolar coupling constant distributions were directly estimated from the dynamical structure of the molten glass. (11)B NMR parameters of well-known structural units such as the three-coordinated ring, nonring, and four-coordinated tetrahedron were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. In this study, more detailed classification of B units was presented based on the number of O species bonded to the B atoms. This highlights the limitations of (11)B NMR sensitivity for resolving (11)B local environment using the experimentally obtained spectra only. The (17)O NMR parameter distributions can theoretically resolve the bridging and nonbridging O atoms with different structural units such as nonring, single boroxol ring, and double boroxol ring. Slight but clear differences in the number of bridging O atoms surrounding Li that have not been reported experimentally were observed in the theoretically obtained (7)Li NMR parameters.