Issue 46, 2013

What determines the critical size for phase separation in LiFePO4 in lithium ion batteries?

Abstract

LiFePO4 characteristically shows a plateau voltage due to a two-phase (LiFePO4/FePO4) separation during the charge/discharge process in Li ion batteries. In this study, we clearly show that monodispersed nano-sized (about 10 nm) LiFePO4 particles exhibit a complete single-phase reaction without showing any plateau voltage. Since the elastic strain due to lattice mismatch between LiFePO4 and FePO4 would be easily released near the surface, elastic effects are usually expected to weaken, but, in contrast to this expectation, phase separation does not occur experimentally in such small nanoparticles. Consideration on the basis of only static thermodynamics is insufficient to explain why such a single-phase reaction occurs in nano-sized particles. In contrast, the mechanism of the single-phase reaction can be naturally understood, when we consider a kinetics concept based on the preferred wavelength for stable growth of the spinodal wave under such an elastic constraint.

Graphical abstract: What determines the critical size for phase separation in LiFePO4 in lithium ion batteries?

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Aug 2013
Accepted
18 Sep 2013
First published
19 Sep 2013

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013,1, 14532-14537

What determines the critical size for phase separation in LiFePO4 in lithium ion batteries?

T. Ichitsubo, T. Doi, K. Tokuda, E. Matsubara, T. Kida, T. Kawaguchi, S. Yagi, S. Okada and J. Yamaki, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013, 1, 14532 DOI: 10.1039/C3TA13122J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements