Biotemplated fabrication of a novel hierarchical porous C/LiFePO4/C composite for Li-ion batteries

Hierarchical porous composites are a potentially attractive material for high-rate cathode. This work presents a facile sol-gel process for the fabrication of a hierarchical porous C/LiFePO4/bio-C composite by using artemia cyst shells as natural biological carbon templates. The C/LiFePO4/bio-C composite exhibits a superior electrochemical performance with discharge capacities of 105 mA h g-1, 93 mA h g-1 and 80 mA h g-1 at 5 C, 10 C and 20 C, respectively. Remarkably, it produces a high discharge capacity of 69.1 mA h g-1 and no fading after 50 cycles even at a high current density of 6800 mA g-1. This journal is