A Ternary Polyaniline/Active Carbon/Lithium Iron Phosphate Composite as Cathode Material for Lithium Ion Battery

Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) has been evaluated as the most promising cathode material for the next generation lithium-ion batteries because of its high operating voltage, good cycle performance, low cost, and environmentally friendly safety. However, pure LiFePO4 shows poor reversible capacity and charge/discharge performance at high current density. Many methods including optimization of particle size, introduction of coating carbon and conductive polymer, and the doping of metal and halogen ions have been developed to improve its electrochemical performance. In this study, conductive polymer polyaniline (PANI), active carbon and LiFePO4 (C-LFP/PANI) composite cathodes were successfully prepared by chemical oxidation method. Electrochemical performance shows that a remarkable improvement in capacity and rate performance can be achieved in the C-LFP/PANI composite cathodes with an addition of HCI. In comparison with C-LFP cathode, the C-LFP/PANI doped with HCl composite exhibits ca. 15% and 26% capacity enhancement at 0.2 C and 10 C, respectively.