The origin of stability and high Co2+/3+ redox utilization for FePO4-coated LiCo0.90Ti0.05PO4/MWCNT nanocomposites for 5 V class lithium ion batteries

RSC Adv. 2022 Sep 15;12(40):26192-26200. doi: 10.1039/d2ra03144b. eCollection 2022 Sep 12.

Abstract

Highly-dispersed 10 wt% FePO4 (FP)-coated LiCo0.90Ti0.05PO4 (LCTP) was successfully synthesized within a multiwalled carbon nanotube matrix via our original ultracentrifugation process. 10 wt% FP-coated LCTP sample showed a higher discharge capacity of 116 mA h g-1 together with stable cycle performance over 99% of capacity retention at the 100th cycle in high voltage. A combination of TEM, XRD, XPS, and XAFS analyses suggests that (i) Ti4+-substitution increases the utilization of Co redox (capacity increase) in LCP crystals by suppressing the Co3O4 formation and creating the vacancies in Co sites, and (ii) the FP-coating brought about the Fe enrichment of the surface of LCTP which prevents an irreversible crystal structure change and electrolyte decomposition during cycling, resulting in the stable cycle performance.