Research progress of nitrogen-doped nanocarbon modified LiFePO4 positive electrode materials

Abstract:

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are efficient and clean energy storage devices, which offer widely promising applications for consumer electronic products, energy storage facilities and electric vehicles, and have great significance to optimize the energy structure and relieve the energy crisis and environmental pollution. Olivine-type LiFePO4 is one of most promising positive electrode materials for LIBs. However, the intrinsically low electronic conductivity and lithium-ion diffusion velocity result in poor performance of LiFePO4 and hinder its large-scale application for power type LIBs. Nanocarbon materials, especially the nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon, carbon nanotube and graphene, present many merits such as high electronic conductivity, large specific surface area, superior chemical affinity and good thermal or chemical stability etc, which demonstrate unique advantages to improve the electrochemical performances of LiFePO4. In this review, the research progresses of the nitrogen-doped nanocarbon modified LiFePO4 materials have been summarized from the aspects of doping method, morphology and structure, electrochemical performance, and the future developments of the doped nanocarbon modified LiFePO4 materials are outlooked.