New observation of morphology of Li[Fe1-xMnx]PO4 nano-fibers (x=0, 0.1, 0.3) as a cathode for lithium secondary batteries by electrospinning process

The key issue with lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) is poor ionic conductivity. Electrospinning is one of the best way to increase a surface area. Therefore, electrospinning was presently adopted to solve the kinetic problems associated with the solid-state diffusion of Li+ intercalation. In this work, nano-fibers of Li[Fe1-xMnx]PO4 (x=0, 0.1, 0.3) were prepared from sol-gel precursor by electrospinning. After calcinations of the precursor nano-fibers at 800 degrees C, Li[Fe1-xMnx]PO4 nano-fibers (x=0, 0.1, 0.3) with a diameter of 100-500 nm were successfully obtained. X-ray diffraction (XRD), videoscope, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses were performed to characterize the properties of the prepared materials. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the morphology change of nano-sized Li[Fe1-xMnx]PO4 (x=0, 0.1, 0.3) obtained through electrospinning. Li[Fe1-xMnx]PO4 (x=0.1, 0.3) nano-fibers displayed a rough surface due to the increased manganese content. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of its kind. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.