Synthesis of Iron Phosphate Via Coprecipitation Method for LiFePO4 Cathode

In this study, ferric phosphate precursors were prepared by controlling precipitation time, and the resulting LiFePO4 active materials were thoroughly investigated. Microscale LiFePO4 cathode materials, designed for high energy density at the cell level, were successfully synthesized through a 10 h co-precipitation. As the reaction time increased, smaller primary particles were aggregated more tightly, and the secondary particles exhibited a more spherical shape. Meanwhile, ammonia did not work effectively as a complexing agent. The carbon coated LiFePO4 (LiFePO4 /C) synthesized from the 10 h ferric phosphate precursor exhibited larger primary and secondary particle sizes, a lower specific surface area, and higher crystallinity due to the sintering of the primary particles. Enhanced battery performance was achieved with the LiFePO4 /C that was synthesized from the precursor with the smaller size, which exhibited the discharge capacity of 132.25 mAh center dot g(-1) at 0.1 C, 70 % capacity retention at 5 C compared with 0.1 C, and 99.9 % capacity retention after the 50th cycle. The better battery performance is attributed to the lower charge transfer resistance and higher ionic conductivity, resulting from smaller primary particle sizes and a shorter Li+ diffusion path.