Electrochemical performance of LiFePO4 cathode material coated with multi-wall carbon nanotubes

LiFePO4 coated with multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) materials have been prepared through a hydrothermal route followed by heat treatment. The samples of pure LiFePO4 and LiFePO4-MWCNTs have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), charge–discharge experiments, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and alternating current (AC) impedance spectroscopy. The LiFePO4-MWCNTs samples show higher discharge capacity and better cycle performance than as-prepared LiFePO4. LiFePO4-MWCNTs (5 wt.%) exhibited an initial discharge capacity of 160.3 mAh g−1 at 0.3 C, and the capacity fading is only 0.4% after 50 cycles.