Synthesis and electrochemical performance of nano-metastructured LiFePO4/C cathode material

The nano-metastructured LiFePO4/C composites were synthesized by carbothermal reduction method using starch gel as carbon source and dispersing media to obtain high tap density LiFePO4 with excellent electrochemical performance. The raw materials were coated by starch gel as compact precursors, which was sintered at 750 degrees C for 8 h to obtain high-density LiFePO4/C composite aggregated with nano-sized particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations showed that the primary particles had an average size of about 50-80 nm and the aggregates had a homogeneous particle size distribution of about 400 nm. The asprepared samples had a shortened lithium-ion diffusion length but with higher tap density, thus leading to the excellent electrochemical performance of the cathode materials. Electrochemical results showed that the samples delivered high discharge capacities of 155.6 and 120.7 mAh/g at 0.2C and 5C rates, respectively, with excellent cycling performance.