Synthesis and electrochemical performance of porous Li2FeSiO4/C cathode material for long-life lithium-ion batteries

Porous Li2FeSiO4/C composite is synthesized using a facile one-step technique. The Li2FeSiO4/C composite is characterized by a large amount of particles with the size of similar to 5 mu m. These particles are composed of a large number of smaller crystal grains with the size of similar to 100 nm, which are combined by many irregular pores. This structure can not only offer channels for infiltration of liquid electrolyte, but also avoid aggregation of nanoparticles during the synthesis itself and/or during electrochemical cycling. The electrochemical test result indicates that although the Li2FeSiO4/C cathode shows a lower initial discharge capacity of 134 mAh g(-1), it improves to 155 mAh g(-1) after 190 electrochemical cycles. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.