Effect of Carbon Sources on the Morphology of LiFePO4 Cathode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

The LiFePO4 materials were prepared by incorporating conductive carbon from pyrolysising three different carbon sources (acetylene black, glucose and phonetic resin). The morphology LiFePO4/C was investigated by the SEM. Results revealed that the carbon precursor has much effect on the morphology of the samples. The carbon coated LiFePO4 showed much better performance in terms of the discharge capacity and rate capability than the bare LiFePO4. Among the carbon coated LiFePO4, the particles coated with phonetic resin residual carbon exhibited better electrochemical properties than others and a proper mechanism was proposed.