Highly oriented LiFePO4 thin film electrodes via chemical solution deposition

•Highly oriented LiFePO4 thin film was prepared by chemical solution deposition.•Electrode using stainless steel as substrate shows low apparent activation energy.•Great potential to be used as cathode material for lithium thin film batteries

Highly oriented LiFePO4 thin-film electrodes were fabricated via chemical solution deposition combined with spin coating. The effects of the precursor concentrations and types of substrates on microstructures and electrochemical performances were studied. Single-phase LiFePO4 with orientations perpendicular to the (211)/(020) and (311) planes prepared using stainless steel as substrate presents the capacity of 4.9 μAh·cm− 2 and the apparent activation energy of 59.2 kJ·mol− 1, indicating its great potential to be used as cathode material for lithium thin film batteries.