Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to image particles of a high-rate LiFePO4 sample containing a small amount of in situ carbon. The particle morphology is highly irregular, with a wide size distribution. Nevertheless, coatings, varying from about 5-10 nm in thickness, could readily be detected on surfaces of particles as well as on edges of agglomerates. Elemental mapping using Energy Filtered TEM (EFTEM) indicates that these very thin surface layers are composed of carbon. These observations have important implications for the design of high-rate LiFePO4 materials in which, ideally, a minimal amount of carbon coating is used.