Characteristics of Carbon from Chitin-coated LiFePO4 and its Performance for Lithium Ion Battery

Abstract

A LiFePO₄ battery is the best device for energy storage. Batteries are currently being developed for higher capacity using novel materials. Carbon is one material that can be used to improve the properties of LiFePO₄ batteries. The chitin produced from shrimp shell is a viable material that can be transformed into organic carbon. The chitin is revealed to be an element of 36.6 wt% carbon (C). Carbon is formed of small crystallites comprising electrode composite with a uniform carbon coating that can improve the electrochemical activation for LiFePO₄/C composites. When the electrochemical reaction was operated at 1.2 V, the flow rate was increased 80%. The average charge-discharge capacities were 100 and -100 mAh/g, respectively, while the average energy density over a period of 20 cycles was 336 Wh/kg (maximum ~350 Wh/kg). Therefore, organic carbon can be used to remarkably improve the properties of LiFePO₄ batteries with low-cost materials.