Enhancement of Li intercalation kinetics of LiFePO₄ nanoparticles with mesoporous carbon

Abstract

Carbon-assisted energy storage in Li-ion batteries is a crucial topic in the era of carbon neutrality. This work reports a remarkable synergistic effect between lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄, LFP) nanoparticles and mesoporous carbon (MC) that greatly improves the rate performance and cycle performance. The rapid capacitive effect of MC helps establish a local Li⁺-rich environment for LFP, enhancing the Li intercalation kinetics inside LFP nanoparticles during discharge. This synergistic effect is quantificationally evaluated using a single-particle model to compare the Li intercalation extent of LFP particles under the presence and absence of MC, which is further confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observation, in-situ X-ray diffraction characterization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy test. In addition, the LFP/MC composite cathode exhibits a nearly 100% capacity retention after 1,000 cycles under 1C charge and 10C discharge. Overall, the addition of MC proves to be a very simple but robust method to increase the capacity, power density and cycle life of LFP-based devices.

Keywords

Mesoporous carbon / Li intercalation kinetics / Li-ion battery-capacitors / synergistic effect / in-situ X-ray diffraction

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