Neutron Pair Distribution Function Study of FePO₄ and LiFePO₄

Neutron powder diffraction studies of the compounds FePO4 and LiFePO4 are reported. Rietveld refinement of the diffraction data provides averaged structures for both materials that are in good agreement with the published structures. In addition, detailed investigations of the short-range ion–ion correlations within each compound have been performed using the reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling of the total scattering (Bragg plus diffuse) data. Although the short-range structural information for LiFePO4 is consistent with the long-range (averaged) picture, a small, but statistically significant, proportion of the anions is displaced away from their ideal sites within the RMC configurations of FePO4. These anion displacements are discussed in terms of a small concentration of Li+/Fe2+ occupying the empty octahedral sites, probably arising from incomplete delithiation of the LiFePO4 and/or antisite (Li+–Fe2+) defects introduced during the delithiation process.