Solid State Reaction Preparation of LiFePO4/(C + Cu) Cathode Material and Its Electrochemical Performance

Cu-C co-coated LiFePO4 (LiFePO4/(C + Cu)) cathode material was successfully prepared through solid state reduction reaction. The optimized additive amount of CuO was determined by electrochemical test of series content-dependent samples. Electrochemical performances of LiFePO4/(C + Cu) cathode material were investigated. Crystalline structure, morphology and electrochemical performance of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), charge-discharge tests and AC impedance techniques. Results showed that crystal structure of the bulk material was not destroyed after Cu particles distributed on the surface of LiFePO4/C. With 5 wt% CuO additive, the LiFePO4/(C + Cu) cathode material showed improved electrochemical performance especially at high rates and low temperature. At 25 degrees C and 0.1 C current rate, specific capacity of the Cu-coated sample reaches 161.3 mA h/g. The result was 47 mA h/g higher than that of the un-coated one. At -20 degrees C, the discharge capacity of Cu-coated materials was 113.4 mA h/g at 0.1 C rate and 83.8 mA h/g at 5 C rate, which reached about 70% of that at room temperature, respectively.