In situ synchrotron diffraction measurements and subsequent Rietveld refinements are used to show that the high energy density cathode material LiCoPO4 (space group Pnma) undergoes two distinct two-phase reactions upon charge and discharge, both occurring via an intermediate Li2/3(Co2+)2/3(Co3+)1/3PO4 phase. Two resonances are observed for Li2/3CoPO4 with intensity ratios of 2:1 and 1:1 in the ...

An iron-based mixed-polyanion compound, Li9Fe3(P2O7)3(PO4)2, is introduced as a possible cathode material for Li-ion batteries. Phase-pure Li9Fe3(P2O7)3(PO4)2 is successfully prepared by a sol-gel method, and its physicochemical properties are investigated in detail. Special attention is paid on making clear the variation of the phase composition with the annealing temperature and the effect of...

The carbon-coated TiO2(B) nanosheet composite synthesized by one-step hydrolysis of TiCl3 followed by vacuum annealing and air annealing delivers outstanding electrochemical performance as a negative electrode for Li-ion batteries, i.e. reversible capacity above 150 mA h g(-1) at 30 C (10 A g(-1)).

A microporous carbon coated core/shell Si@C nanocomposite prepared by in situ polymerization exhibits a stable capacity of over 1200 mAh g(-1) with 95.6% retention even after 40 cycles, which makes it a promising anode material for lithium ion batteries.

We designed an anisotropic electrode, in which Li(+) ion insertion and diffusion are anisotropic, by controlled growth of TiO2 nanosheets parallel to the surface of graphene paper. The anisotropic electrode gives a gravimetric capacity of 112 mA h g(-1) at an ultra-high rate of 100 C (corresponding to 36 s of charge-discharge), 3 times higher than that of a referenced isotropic electrode. The r...

Use of compounds that contain fluorine (F) as electrode materials in lithium ion batteries has been considered, but synthesizing single-phase samples of these compounds is a difficult task. Here, it is demonstrated that a simple scalable single-step solid-state process with additional fluorine source can obtain highly pure LiVPO4F. The resulting material with submicron particles achieves very h...

ZnFe(2)O(4)/C hollow spheres have been synthesized via a facile solvothermal route using low cost raw materials. The resulting composite showed a very high specific capacity of 841 mAh g(-1) after 30 cycles and good rate capability.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been studied extensively in the past 20 years due to their novel electronic, photonic, mechanical and electrochemical properties. Recently, more attention has been paid to assemble nanoscale building blocks into three-dimensional (3D) complex hierarchical structures, which not only inherit the excellent properties of the single building blocks but also provi...

The 3D flowerlike iron sulfide (F-FeS) is successfully synthesized via a facile one-step sulfurization process, and the electrochemical properties as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are investigated. Compared with bulk iron sulfide, we find that the unique structural features, overall flowerlike structure, composed of several dozen nanopetals and numerous small size iron sulfid...