Synthesis of high-performance LiMnPO4/C /rGO composite via a mechanical-activation-assisted polyol process

A mechanical-activation-assisted polyol method for efficient preparation of high-performance rod-like LiMnPO4 composite is developed. The nanosized [Mn3(PO4)2·8H2O + Li3PO4]/graphene oxide (GO) precursors are prepared via a mechano-chemical liquid-phase activation–assisted technique from LiH2PO4 and manganese powder. LiMnPO4/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) samples are obtained by polyol process in boiling triethylene glycol (TEG) and then followed with pyrolytic carbon coating to prepare the LiMnPO4/C/rGo nanocomposite. The characterized results prove that well-crystallized LiMnPO4 nanorods can be successfully synthesized by polyol processing. The LiMnPO4 nanorods have a large percentage of highly oriented (020) facets, which provide a high pore density for Li-ion insertion/extraction. Both rGO modification and further carbon coating significantly improve the conductivity and reduce the charge-transfer resistance. The optimized LiMnPO4/C/rGO composite delivers good electrochemical performance.