Comparison of the Rate Capacities of LiFePO[sub 4] Cathode Materials

In this paper, the specific capacities as a function of discharge rate of over 40 different materials reported were reviewed and analyzed. The influence of synthesis route, particle size, doping, carbon coating, and conductive carbon loading on the rate performance was discussed. The capacity distribution of the existing materials over a wide discharge rate was constructed. Analysis of the experimental data indicates that carbon coating has a more significant effect in improving the rate performance as compared to doping and particle size reduction. With highly conductive carbon coating, some of the materials with a large particle size (150–300 nm) exhibited better performance than the materials of nanosize (30–100 nm). In terms of synthesis method, excellent high rate performance was achieved in the materials prepared by direct precipitation, sol–gel, polyol, and ballmilling techniques.