Characterization of LiFePO4 Cathode by Addition of Graphene for Lithium Ion Batteries

The improvement of LiFePO4 (LFP) cathode performance has been performed by addition of Graphene (LFP+Graphene). The cathode was prepared from the active material with 5 wt % graphene and 10 wt % polyvinylidene fluoride in an n-methyl pyrrolidone solvent. Another cathode material used only 5% artificial graphite for comparison (LFP+Graphite). The crystal structure, microstructure, electronic conductivity, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of the cathodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM, and Impedance spectroscopy, respectively. Two half cell coin batteries were assembled using a lithium metal as an anode and LiPf6 as an electrolyte, and two cathodes (LFP+Graphene) and (LFP+Graphite). Charge discharge performance of battery was characterized by Battery analyser (BTS 8). The electronic conductivity of cathode with grapheme increased of about one order magnitude compared with the only cathode with graphite, namely from 1.97E-7S/cm (LFP+Graphite) to 1.92E-6S/cm (LFP+Graphene). The charge discharge capacity after 10th cycles of LiFePO4 with graphene decreased of about 0.68% from 114.3 mAh/g to113.1 mAh/g, while LFP with graphite decreased of about 2.84% from 110.2 mAh/g to 107.1 mAh, at 0.1C-rates. It could be concluded that the addition of graphene has ncreased the ionic conductivity, and improved performance of the LFP lithium ion battery, such as higher capacity and better efficiency.