XAS study of LiFePO4 synthesized by solid state reactions and hydrothermal method

LiFePO4 composite was synthesized by both solid state and hydrothermal methods. The physical properties of the as-prepared lithium iron phosphates were characterized by X-ray diffraction while electrochemical properties were measured with charge/discharge experiments. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was performed to investigate the local structure arrangements of LiFePO4. Both X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra collected at the Fe K-edge shed light on structural differences between LiFePO4 samples synthesized with the two methods, partially accounting for their different electrochemical properties.