In situ growth of LiFePO4 nanorod arrays under hydrothermal condition

A novel in situ combinatorial method has been developed to fabricate LiFePO4 nanorod arrays, during which anodized alumina oxide (AAO) was employed as the template and ethylene glycol/water medium is used to ensure mass transportation rates of different chemicals to match each other. The samples were then characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). After being hydrothermally processed at 160 degrees C, the highly-crystallized LiFePO4 arrays were directly obtained, which are composed of single crystal nanorods with a diameter of 200 nm and a length of 3 mu m. The reported synthesis is simple, mild and energy-efficient. A noteworthy advantage over conventional sol-gel-template methods is the elimination of high-temperature annealing. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.