Integrated carbon cloth supported LiFePO4/N-C films as high-performance cathode for lithium ion batteries

Highlights: • Construct carbon cloth supported LiFePO₄/N-C films via hydrothermal. • The LiFePO₄/N-C films show high capacity and good cycles. • Carbon cloth and N-C layer work together to provide fast ion/electron transfer. - Abstract: Fabricating advanced cathode is critical for the development of high-performance lithium ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, we develop a facile hydrothermal method for construction of LiFePO₄/N-C films on the carbon cloth forming integrated binder-free cathode. The LiFePO₄/N-C films are composed of interconnected nanoscale LiFePO₄/N-C particles with diameters of 100–200 nm. High porosity and good adhesion are obtained in the carbon cloth supported LiFePO₄/N-C films (CC + LiFePO₄/N-C films). As compared to the LiFePO₄/C powder nanoparticles, the CC + LiFePO₄/N-C films show much better electrochemical properties with higher capacities, smaller polarization and better high-rate cycling life. A high capacity of 169 mAh g⁻¹ at 1C is achieved for the carbon cloth supported LiFePO₄/N-C films, superior to the LiFePO₄/C powder nanoparticles (154 mAh g⁻¹ at 5C). This enhancement is owing to the unique integrated porous architecture and N-C coating. Our work shows a new way to construct integrated cathode for application in LIBs.