Synergistic Nitrogen-doped Carbon coating enables high-capacity Lithium Iron Phosphate cathodes for enhanced battery performance

Abstract

Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) cathode has garnered significant interest due to their inherent safety, low toxicity and cost-effectiveness. However, their application is constrained by intrinsic limitations such as sluggish lithium-ion and electronic diffusion kinetics. In this work, a facile in-situ polymerization strategy is proposed to deposit a uniform nitrogen-doped carbon coating on the surface of LiFePO₄ cathode. This tailored architecture not only enhances the lithium-ion diffusion coefficient, but also provides three-dimensional migration channels for lithium ions. Benefiting from synergistic effects, the LiFePO₄ cathode delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 168.8 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 C and 25 °C, with 98.7 % capacity retention after 100 cycles. Remarkably, it exhibits superior discharge capacity of 148.64 mAh g⁻¹ even at 10 C. Notably, the material provides an exceptional capacity of 140.6 mAh g^-1 at −20 °C and 0.1C. This designed nitrogen-doped carbon coating strategy provides a scalable pathway for developing high-performance, high-safety lithium-ion batteries.