Liquid-Phase Synthesis of Uniformly Nanosized LiMnPO4 Particles and Their Electrochemical Properties for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Uniformly nanosized particles of olivine LiMnPO4 were prepared at 280 degrees C by liquid-phase synthesis using a high-boiling-point organic solution, and their electrochemical properties were investigated by charge and discharge measurements for the first time. TEM observation clarified that the resultant LiMnPO4 particles had fairly uniform particle sizes of ca. 7 nm. The discharge Curves of the nanosized LiMnPO4 particles showed a monotonous decrease in voltage below 4 V, which was quite different from the clear plateau observed for conventional micrometer-sized LiMnPO4 powder. Thus, uniformly nanosized particles of active materials are readily available for Studying the particle-size effect oil the electrochemical properties of Li-ion batteries.