Real-time investigation of the structural evolution of electrodes in a commercial lithium-ion battery containing a V-added LiFePO4 cathode using in-situ neutron powder diffraction

In-situ neutron powder diffraction was employed to investigate the structural evolution of the electrode materials in a commercial lithium-ion battery used for electric buses in Taiwan. The battery, containing a vanadium-added LiFePO4 cathode, does not exhibit a delayed phase transition between LiFePO4 (triphylite) and FePO4 (heterosite) suggesting that the delayed phase transition can be suppressed through the use of vanadium-added LiFePO4 cathodes, which also enhances the capacity and prolongs the cycle life of these batteries. Furthermore, we characterize the readily reversible structural change of the anode (LixC6 where 0 < x <= 1) and correlate this to battery voltage. © 2013, Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords

Iron phosphates, Neutron diffraction, Vanadium, Lithium ion batteries, Cathodes, Phase transformations

Citation

Hu, C.-W., Sharma, N., Chiang, C.-Y., Su, H.-C., Peterson, V. K., Hsieh, H.-W., Lin, Y.-F., Chou, W.-C., Shew, B.-Y., & Lee, C.-H. (2013). Real-time investigation of the structural evolution of electrodes in a commercial lithium-ion battery containing a V-added LiFePO4 cathode using in-situ neutron powder diffraction. Journal of Power Sources, 244, 158-163. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.02.074