Fabrication of olivine-type LiMnxFe1−xPO4 crystals via the glass–ceramic route and their lithium ion battery performance

The olivine-type LiMnxFe1−xPO4 crystals are fabricated through the crystallization of Li2O–MnO2–Fe2O3–P2O5 glasses, and the lithium ion battery performance (electrochemical charge/discharge patterns) for the glass–ceramics with LiMnxFe1−xPO4 crystals is examined. It is found that homogeneous glasses are obtained for the stoichiometric compositions corresponding to LiMnxFe1−xPO4 with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8 in a conventional melt-quenching method in air. The heat treatment of the mixtures of glass powders and glucose (5 wt%) at crystallization temperatures (∼550 °C) in a reducing atmosphere of 7%H2–93%Ar gives the formation of the olivine-type LiMnxFe1−xPO4 crystals. The charge/discharge curves exhibit the plateaus at the voltage of ∼3.4 and 4.1 V.