Spherical nanoporous LiCoPO4/C composites as high performance cathode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Spherical nanoporous LiCoPO₄/C composite microparticles were synthesized from soluble precursors by spray pyrolysis. They consisted of ∼70 nm primary particles agglomerated into micron-sized spheres with an average pore size of 68 nm and a 3–5 nm thick conformal carbon coating comprising 2.4% carbon by weight. The material delivered a reversible capacity of 123 mAh g⁻¹ at C/10 rate, and showed excellent cycling behavior and rate capability. The good electrochemical performance is due to the presence of three-dimensional networks for both electronic and ionic transport.