Ruthenium oxide-added quartz iron phosphate as a new intercalation electrode in rechargeable lithium cells

FePO4 is a very promising electrode material for lithium batteries. The material is environmentally benign and is characterized by a high theoretical specific capacity (178 Ah/kg). The application of this material is limited by the poor kinetics of its lithium intercalation process. In this paper we demonstrate that by using a synthesis procedure based on a wet chemistry route, alpha-quartz iron phosphate electrodes having enhanced electrochemical properties are obtained. The properties of this electrode may be further improved by finely dispersing RuO2 particles throughout its mass. We explain the beneficial effect of RuO2 by assuming that it induces a substantial enhancement of the FePO4 interparticle electronic contact. With this strategy of synthesis and additives we have fabricated electrodes capable of delivering reversible specific capacity as high as 110 mAh/g at a C/3 rate. (C) 2003 The Electrochemical Society.