Solid state synthesis of LiFePO4/C: Using low cost materials

Mobinul Islam, Man Soon Yoon, Young Min Park, Soon Chul Ur

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cathode materials have been the most important components of the Li-ion secondary battery research because they generally determine the capacity and safety of Li-ion battery (LIB). In order to decrease the cost of LIBs, main efforts are devoted to the cost reduction of the electrode materials. As a consequence, low cost raw materials are considered for cost reduction. Iron (III) phosphate has recently gained interest as a compatible source of both iron and phosphate in the field of LIB. It is prepared by a precipitation technique from aqueous solution. The starting material is Fe(NO3)3 • 9H2O, in this study, which is one of the cheapest iron sources for LiFePO4 cathode preparation. The olivine-type LiFePO4/C composites are synthesized by a solid state reaction process using pre-milled Li2CO3 and pre-synthesized amorphous FePO4 • xH2O powders. The pre-synthesized FePO4 • xH2O powders are mixed with pre-milled lithium carbonate and glucose (8 wt.%) using either water or alcohol solvent sequentially via ball-mill process. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate Fe(NO3)3 • 9H2O as a source material and explore the effect of precursor mixing solvent, if any, on the microstructure and electrochemical property of LiFePO4 cathode materials. The structural characteristics of LiFePO4/C composites are examined by XRD, SEM and TEM. To investigate the mixing solvent effect on the electrochemical property in LiFePO4/C composites, a Li[LiPF6 (ethylene carbonate + dimethyl carbonate)] LiFePO4/C model cell is used. It is demonstrated that the LiFePO4/C synthesize by using alcohol solvent exhibits the better electrochemical performance than that of water one. The reason of such kind of behavior is explicated by their corresponding TEM micrographs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)218-222
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Ceramic Processing Research
Volume16
Issue number2
StatePublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Iron nitrate
  • Particle shape
  • Solid state
  • TEM

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