Graphene nanoplates structured LiMnPO4/C composite for lithium-ion battery

In order to improve the kinetic performance of LiMnPO4, a novel sol-gel method is attained for preparing the gel precursor of LiMnPO4 and the Graphene nanoplates (GNPs) with the highly graphitic ordered structure are also introduced into the terminal material. The acquired Graphene nanoplates structured LiMnPO4/C composite has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). It has been found that the nano-particles of LiMnPO4/C with the size around 50-100 nm are well-dispersed on the support, and agglomeration of LiMnPO4/C particles is not obvious compared with LiMnPO4-C/Acetylene black (AB) sample. The galvanostatic charge/discharge test shows that the electrochemical performance of LiMnPO4/C samples can be significantly improved by adding the Graphene nanoplates due to the formation of 3-D effective conducting network, reduced agglomeration of LiMnPO4/C particles and a strong interaction between GNPs and LiMnPO4/C particles. The acquired LiMnPO4-C/GNPs sample exhibits the reversible capacities of 139 mAh g−1 at 0.05 C and 119 mAh g−1 at 1 C