Synthesis and characterization of Carbon Nano Fiber/LiFePO4 composites for Li-ion batteries

Carbon Nano Fibers (CNFs) coated with LiFePO4 Particles have been prepared by a non-aqueous sol-gel technique. The functionalization of the CNFs by HNO3 acid treatment has been confirmed by Raman and XPS analyses. The samples pure LiFePO4 and LiFePO4-CNF have been characterized by XRD, SEM, RAMAN, XPS and electrochemical analysis. The LiFePO4-CNF sample shows better electrochemical performance compared to as-prepared LiFePO4 center dot LiFePO4-CNF (10 wt.%) delivers a higher specific capacity (similar to 140 mAh g(-1)) than LiFePO4 with carbon black (25 wt.%) added after synthesis (similar to 120 mAh g(-1)) at 0.1C. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.