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Chemical lithiation route to size-controllable LiFePO4/C nanocomposite

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Abstract

Chemical lithiation of amorphous FePO4 with LiI in acetonitrile is performed to form amorphous LiFePO4. The amorphous FePO4·2H2O precursor is synthesized by co-precipitation method from equimolar aqueous solutions of FeSO4·7H2O and NH4H2PO4, using H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) as the oxidizing agent. The nanocrystalline LiFePO4/C is obtained by annealing the amorphous LiFePO4 and in situ carbon coating with sucrose in a reducing atmosphere. The particle size of FePO4·2H2O precursor decreases with increasing reaction temperature. The final LiFePO4/C products completely maintain the shape and size of the precursor even after annealing at 700 °C for 2 h. The excellent electrochemical properties of these nanocrystalline LiFePO4/C composites suggest that to decrease the particle size of LiFePO4 is very effective in enhancing the rate capability and cycle performance. The specific discharge capacities of LiFePO4/C obtained from the FePO4·2H2O precursor synthesized at 75 °C are 151.8 and 133.5 mAh g−1 at 0.1 and 1 C rates, with a low capacity fading of about 0.075 % per cycle over 50 cycles at 0.5 C rate.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (11275121, 21241002), Science and Technology Committee of Shanghai (11DZ110020, 10ZR1411300), and Shanghai Leading Academic Disciplines Project (S30109).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, People’s Republic of China

    Yong Jiang, Hua Zhuang, Dengyu Pan, Zheng Jiao, Xiaochao Que, Xuetao Ling, Mingyang Zhong & Bing Zhao

  2. Instrumental Analysis and Research Center, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, People’s Republic of China

    Yuliang Chu

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  1. Yong Jiang
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  2. Hua Zhuang
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  3. Dengyu Pan
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  4. Zheng Jiao
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  7. Mingyang Zhong
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  8. Yuliang Chu
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  9. Bing Zhao
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Correspondence to Bing Zhao.

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Jiang, Y., Zhuang, H., Pan, D. et al. Chemical lithiation route to size-controllable LiFePO4/C nanocomposite. J Appl Electrochem 43, 611–617 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-013-0542-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-013-0542-5

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