High-performance 3D directional porous LiFePO4/C materials synthesized by freeze casting

The directional freeze casting technology has received increasing attention as a processing method to fabricate the aligned porous materials due to the advantages of easy operation and free of byproduct. Here, we innovatively applied the directional freezing technology to synthesize the 3D directional porous LiFePO 4 materials. The distinctive 3D directional porous structure of LiFePO 4 is templated from the aligned ice crystals frozen under the temperature gradient in liquid nitrogen . When used as a positive electrode material in lithium-ion batteries, the directional porous LiFePO 4 /C composite exhibits high reversible capacities of 162 mA h g −1 at 0.1 C and 72 mA h g −1 at 10 C, and a high capacity retention of 93.3% after 800 cycles at 1 C. The 3D directional porous LiFePO 4 /C is promising for application in lithium-ion batteries and the synthesis strategy could be potentially extended to prepare other high performance electrode materials.