Carbon-coated LiFePO4 Cathode Materials Research Articles

Synthesis of single-crystalline LiFePO4 with rhombus-like morphology

In this investigation, carbon-coated LiFePO4 cathode materials were synthesized with a facile hydrothermal method. The structure and electrochemical properties of the materials were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Roman, transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (TEM-EDS), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). By adjusting the mixing concentration of starting materials, a single-crystalline LiFePO4 with an anisotropic rhombus morphology (Space Group: Pmnb No. 62) were successfully synthesized. In addition, the carbon coated on the surface of LiFePO4 material prepared has a lower ID/IG (0.80), which indicates an optimized carbon structure with an increased amount of sp2-type carbon. Electrochemical performance test shows that the carbon-coated LiFePO4 cathode materials have an initial discharge capacity of 146 mAh g−1 at 0.2C.

Synthesis and characterization of LiFePO4/C cathode materials by sol-gel method.

The carbon coated LiFePO4 cathode materials (LiFePO4/C) were successfully synthesized by sol-gel method with glucose, citric acid and PEG-4000 as dispersant and carbon source, respectively. The microstructure and grain size of LiFePO4/C composite were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the carbon source and calcination temperature had important effect on the graphitization degree of carbon; the carbon decomposed by citric acid had higher graphitization degree; with calcination temperature rising, the graphitization degree of carbon increased and the particles size increased. The graphitization degree and grain size were very important for improving the electrochemical performance of LiFePO4 cathode materials, according to the experimental results, the sample LFP-700 (LFP-C) which was synthesized with citric acid as dispersant at 700 degree C had lower polarization and larger discharge capacity.

LiFePO4@C cathode materials synthesized from FePO4@PAn composites

Carbon coated LiFePO4 cathode materials were successfully synthesized by heating the precursors of FePO4@PAn (polyaniline) and equimolar LiOH·H2O under Ar flow. We demonstrated a method that could precisely control the carbon shell in a single reaction step. The precursors of FePO4@PAn were prepared by in situ polymerization of aniline and precipitation of FePO4 in one pot in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer. In the obtained core–shell cathode composite, the LiFePO4 core phase was crystalline while the carbon shell had the thickness of several nanometers. The optimized cathode material exhibited satisfactory rate and cycle performance, which virtues are quite suitable for power lithium ion batteries.

Particle size effects of carbon sources on electrochemical properties of LiFePO4/C composites

Carbon-coated LiFePO4 cathode materials were prepared by a solid-state method incorporating different sizes of polystyrene (PS) spheres as carbon sources. In scanning electron microscope images, small PS spheres appear more effective at preventing aggregation of LiFePO4 particles. From transmission electron microscopy images, it was found that the LiFePO4 particles were completely uniformly coated with 5-nm carbon layer when the carbon source was 0.22 μm PS spheres. When the size of PS sphere was increased to 2.75 μm, a network of carbon was formed and wrapped around the LiFePO4 to create a conductive web. Raman spectroscopy and four-point probe conductivity measurement showed that using larger sizes of PS spheres as carbon sources leads to greater conductivity of LiFePO4/C. The LiFePO4 precursor sintered with 0.22 μm PS spheres delivered an initial discharge capacity of 145 mAh g−1 at a 0.2 C rate, but it only sustained 289 cycles at 80% capacity. When the diameter of PS spheres was increased to 2.75 μm, the discharge capacity of LiFePO4/C decreased, but the cycle life reached 755 cycles, the highest number in this work probably due to the network formation of carbon wrapping around LiFePO4 particles.