Morphology and Electrochemical Response of LiFePO4 Nanoparticles Tuned by Adjusting the Thermal Decomposition Synthesis

Abstract

Development of nanostructured electrodes for application in Li-ion batteries implies the control of particle morphology and size distribution. Using the high-temperature thermal decomposition synthesis for different temperatures and changing the reactant concentration, we obtained highly crystalline LiFePO4 nanoparticles with different morphologies and mean size. Our results show that an increase of the temperature produces an increase in crystallinity and size of the particles, whereas an increment in reactant concentration generates a slightly increase of the particle size without changes in morphology. The electrochemical capacity of annealed samples is enhanced for those synthesized at higher temperatures, indicating that changes induced by changing the synthesis temperature, as for example differences in the morphology of the particles, are important.