A Single Secondary Particle Model for LIFePO4 Electrochemical Performance Evaluation.

Abstract

LiFePO4 (LFP), one of the cathode active materials for lithium ion batteries (LiB), has been adopted as a battery active material in various fields due to its high safety and long cycle life characteristics. However, LFP don’t use widely around the world because of critical weaknesses including low Li+ diffusion coefficient and low electric conductivity. That is the reason currently applied LFP is made as a carbon-coated secondary particle, which can not only secure a lithium migration path within a single particle but also improve the electric conduction property. However, the processes of synthesis of secondary particles highly depends on the manufacturer, and numerous experiments must be needed to synthesize an appropriate particle sizes and even secondary particle sizes. To solve this problem, herein, we built a 3D model using simulation tool using a previously reported literature (Munakata, K Kanamura et al., J. of Power Sources 217 (2012) 444-448). The comparison between experimental data reported in the literature and model prediction to validate the model. Using the model, performance prediction in many cases of particle synthesis in active material are presented.