Influence of carbon coating porosity on the electrochemical performance of LiFePO4 cathode

Electrochemical performance of LiFePO4/C should be strongly dependent on the carbon coating structure for core-shell nanocomposites. In this work two types of LiFePO4/C composites with the same carbon coating thickness were prepared using a sol–gel technique, enabling direct comparison of the influence of carbon coating porosity on the performance of LiFePO4/C cathodes. It was found that the material with a distribution of dual mesopores delivers better electrochemical performance than the one with a narrow pore size distribution.

► Core-shell LiFePO4/C nanocomposite with high specific area was prepared through a sol–gel technique.
► Pore size distribution in the carbon coating plays an important part in high-rate performance of LiFePO4/C.
► LiFePO4/C material featuring dual porosity delivers better rate performance.