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Updated: Apr 15, 2026
Characterization of Electrode Materials for Lithium Ion and Sodium Ion Batteries Using Synchrotron Radiation Techniques
Published on: November 11, 2013
Improving the capacity of sodium ion battery using a virus-templated nanostructured composite cathode
Maryam Moradi1, Zheng Li1, Jifa Qi1
1†Department of Materials Science and Engineering, ‡The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and §Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Abstract:
In this work we investigated an energy-efficient biotemplated route to synthesize nanostructured FePO4 for sodium-based batteries. Self-assembled M13 viruses and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been used as a template to grow amorphous FePO4 nanoparticles at room temperature (the active composite is denoted as Bio-FePO4-CNT) to enhance the electronic conductivity of the active material. Preliminary tests demonstrate a discharge capacity as high as 166 mAh/g at C/10 rate, corresponding to composition Na0.9FePO4, which along with higher C-rate tests show this material to have the highest capacity and power performance reported for amorphous FePO4 electrodes to date.
