Paolella, Andrea Turner, Stuart Bertoni, Giovanni Hovington, Pierre Flacau, Roxana Boyer, Chad Feng, Zimin Colombo, Massimo Marras, Sergio Prato, Mirko Manna, Liberato Guerfi, Abdelbast Demopoulos, George P. Armand, Michel Zaghib, Karim Accelerated Removal of Fe-Antisite Defects while Nanosizing Hydrothermal LiFePO<sub>4</sub> with Ca<sup>2+</sup> Based on neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), we show that calcium ions help eliminate the Fe-antisite defects by controlling the nucleation and evolution of the LiFePO<sub>4</sub> particles during their hydrothermal synthesis. This Ca-regulated formation of LiFePO<sub>4</sub> particles has an overwhelming impact on the removal of their iron antisite defects during the subsequent carbon-coating step since (i) almost all the Fe-antisite defects aggregate at the surface of the LiFePO<sub>4</sub> crystal when the crystals are small enough and (ii) the concomitant increase of the surface area, which further exposes the Fe-antisite defects. Our results not only justify a low-cost, efficient and reliable hydrothermal synthesis method for LiFePO<sub>4</sub> but also provide a promising alternative viewpoint on the mechanism controlling the nanosizing of LiFePO<sub>4</sub>, which leads to improved electrochemical performances. hydrothermal synthesis method;LiFePO 4 crystal;iron antisite defects;LiFePO 4;neutron powder diffraction;field scanning transmission electron microscopy;NPD;Nanosizing Hydrothermal LiFePO 4;LiFePO 4 particles 2016-03-11
    https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Accelerated_Removal_of_Fe_Antisite_Defects_while_Nanosizing_Hydrothermal_LiFePO_sub_4_sub_with_Ca_sup_2_sup_/3117919
10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00334.s001