A critical barrier to commercialization was the low electrical conductivity of the material. The researchers overcame this hurdle by either reducing the average particle size of the LiFeP04 battery or coating them with conductive materials such as carbon nanotubes. Metal cations such as aluminum and niobium have also been use in the LFP process.
LFP Process
Minerals with olivine have naturally occurring LiFePo4. Initially, LiFePO4 was utilize as a cathode substance for polyanion batteries. It has been establish that adding lithium to FePo4 and removing lithium from LiFePO4 are both reversible processes. This material has a number of benefits, including low cost, non-toxicity, high iron content, great thermal stability, safety features, outstanding electrochemical performance, and a high specific capacity (170mAh/g or 610 C/g).
Many of the advantages and disadvantages of other lithium-ion battery chemistries in a LiFePo4 battery are based on the lithium-ion chemistry. The energy density (energy per volume) of a freshly charged LFP battery is 14% lower than that of a freshly charged LiCoO2 battery. LFP batteries in general and individual cells under this brand have a lower discharge rate than lead-acid batteries or LiCoO2 batteries.
LiCoO2 Batteries
Since the rate of discharge is proportional to the capacity of the battery, it is possible to use a larger battery to achieve a higher rate of discharge when working with low-capacity batteries. Using smaller capacity batteries will not change this (more amp-hours). A high current LFP cell can make things even more attractive (which will have a faster discharge rate than lead acid or LiCoO2 batteries of the same capacity).
LFP does not include nickel and cobalt, two hard-to-find and expensive elements. Similar to lithium, concerns about human rights and the environment have been express with relation to cobalt use. Nickel mining and processing has also caused environmental outrage.
These batteries had anodes (negative electrodes) comprised of petroleum coke in the early stages of lithium-ion battery growth. Subsequent generations used natural and synthetic graphite.
LiFePo4 battery
The LiFePo4 battery is a households battery design primarily for low cost and fire safety. Although the industry is currently split between competing chemical division. This lithium chemistry has a lower energy density than other lithium chemistries. Resulting in an increase in mass and volume that can be more easily tolerate in static applications. Tesla Motors continues to use NMC batteries in its home energy storage devices, but the business plans to switch to LiFePo4 batteries for its general purpose batteries. Home energy storage batteries have surpass those made by Tesla Motors and LG in the United States, where they are use to store energy in private homes.
Conclusion
The LiFePo4 battery naturally contains a lot of iron and has excellent thermal stability and safety. The energy density (energy/volume) of a freshly charged LFP battery is 14% lower than that of a freshly charged LiCoO2 battery. LiFePo4 batteries in general and individual cells of this brand have a lower discharge rate than lead-acid batteries or LiCoO2 batteries.