Thermal stabilities of delithiated olivine MPO4 (M = Fe, Mn) cathodes investigated using first principles calculations

We present an analysis of the thermal reduction of delithiated LiMnPO4 and LiFePO4 based on the quarternary phase diagrams as calculated from first principles. Our results confirm the recent experimental findings that MnPO4 decomposes at a much lower temperature than FePO4, thereby potentially posing larger safety issues for LiMnPO4 cathodes. We find that while substantial oxygen is released as MnPO4 reduces to Mn2P2O7, the mixed valence phases that form in the decomposition process of FePO4 limit the amount of oxygen evolved.