Improved electrochemical performance of the Cr doped cathode materials for energy storage/conversion devices

Abstract

Successful synthesis of a nanostructured Cr-doped LiFePO4 cathode material has been prepared by a sol-gel technique followed by a single step thermal treatment at 750? C for 12 hours. As olivine type LiFePO4 has already gained much attention due to its advantages over other cathode materials, doping of metal ion is done in the paper to improve its drawback of lower conductivity. FESEM couples with EDX were done to characterize the morphology and particle size of the materials. LiFe(1-x)CrxPO4 (x=0.1, 0.2, 0.3) materials have average particle size of 30 to 50?nm. EDX analysis confirmed the precursor used and also confirmed the presence of carbon which is in good agreement with chemical analysis result. Electrical conductivity of the prepared cathode materials is estimated of the order of 10-5 Scm-1 by AC impedance analysis. The energy density and power density of the cathode materials is improved drastically after addition of Cr as dopant. The estimated parameters appear at desirable value for use of materials as cathode in energy storage/conversion devices. ? 2016 Author(s).