MAE Project EG13MO1 Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Metal Phoshonates: New Precursors for cathodic electrode materials

Lithium-ion batteries store and release electrical energy by insertion and extraction of Li+ ions and electrons through the cathode and anode materials. Among several components of the lithium-ion battery, cathode materials have attracted the attention, because they determine the initial capacity of the battery and the fading resistance. The olivine LiFePO4 seems to be the most promising one, due to several facts such as the abundance of the elements, low cost, low toxicity, improved safety and environmental friendliness. Commercial production of LiFePO4 based lithium-ion batteries has started recently, but there is still a demand for low-cost production processes and for new synthetic strategies. A recent original procedure of synthesis of LiFePO4 has been developed by a joint effort of the research team at CNR-ISM, proposers of this project, and other research units (University of Rome, ENEA) providing nanostructured LiFePO4/C composite with good electronic and electrochemical performance. The synthetic procedure is based on the thermal decomposition of Fe(II) alkyl- or arylphosphonates, precursors containing in the same molecule Fe, P, O and C. The synthesis and characterization of the latter precursors are the result of previous collaborations between members of the CNR-ISM team and the Egyptian research unit, proposers of this project, belonging to the University of Assiut (UniAss). For this reason the Italian (CNR-ISM) and the Egyptian proposer (UniAss) present here a new collaboration project with the aim to coordinate their research on the investigation and design of new organic-inorganic hybrid materials based on phosphonates containing Fe(II), Fe(III), Mn(II), P, O, C and Li(I) ions in the same molecule. These new hybrid compounds can be considered innovative precursors for the preparation of LiFePO4/C and FePO4/C nanocomposites and will be studied for this purpose. The present proposal includes also an e-learning course which involves both partners.