Thin Film Rechargeable Electrodes Based on Conductive Blends of Nanostructured Olivine LiFePO4 and Sucrose Derived Nanocarbons for Lithium Ion Batteries

The present study provides the first reports of a novel approach of electrophoretic co-deposition technique by which titanium foils are coated with LiFePO4-carbon nanocomposites synthesized by sot gel route and processed into high-surface area cathodes for lithium ion batteries. The study elucidates how sucrose additions as carbon source can affect the surface morphology and the redox reaction behaviors underlying these cathodes and thereby enhance the battery performance. The phase and morphological analysis were done using XRD and XPS where the LiFePO4 formed was confirmed to be a high purity orthorhombic system. From the analysis of the relevant electrochemical parameters using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, a 20% increment and 90% decrement in capacity and impedance values were observed respectively. The composite electrodes also exhibited a specific capacity of 130 mA h/g. It has been shown that cathodes based on such composite systems can allow significant room for improvement in the cycling performance at the electrode/electrolyte interface.