Solvothermal synthesis of LiFePO4 nanoplates with (010) plane and the uniform carbon coated on their surface by esterification reaction.

Abstract: A facile solvothermal synthesis and esterification reaction combined with a high temperature calcination technique has been developed to prepare the uniform carbon coating LiFePO4 nanoplates. The carbon coating LiFePO4 nanoplates are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) and galvanostatic charge–discharge test. A reasonable growth mechanism of LiFePO4 nanoplates is proposed on the basis of time dependent experimental results. The results show that each nanoplate is a LiFePO4 single crystal with the large (010) plane. According to Raman spectroscopy analysis, carbon is uniformly coated on the surface of LiFePO4 nanoplates. Electrochemical test results also indicate that the carbon coating LiFePO4 nanoplates exhibit a high reversible specific capacity of 144.8 mAh g−1 at 0.5 C and 116.9 mAh g−1 under lower discharging rate at −20 °C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]