Designed synthesis of LiFe0.2Co0.8O2 nanomeshes to greatly improve the positive performance in lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Layered LiFe_0.2Co_0.8O₂ (LCFO) nanomeshes consisting of monocrystalline nanosized subunits have been successfully achieved through in situ doping and a sacrificial-template strategy. On account of the crystal mismatch between the LFCO nanomesh and the precursor being below 4.4%, single crystal features resulting from the sheet-like precursor would be reasonably expected. Meanwhile, the selectively exposed (100), (010) and equivalent crystal planes, the rapid rocking planes of Li⁺, are close to 100%, implying fast lithiation–delithiation kinetics. The introduction of the conductive Fe is beneficial to stabilizing the layered structure and decreasing the electron transfer resistance, leading to the high cyclability, excellent capacity retention of 92.5% after 200 cycles and superior rate performance, and delivering very high discharge capacities of 174, 167, 155, 138 and 109 mA h g⁻¹, respectively, at the rates of 0.1C, 1C, 2C, 5C and 10C. The special morphology and Fe doping jointly contribute to the enhanced electrochemical performance. To the best of our knowledge, no similar results have been reported before in synthesizing layered LFCO nanomeshes for LIBs with excellent Li storage performances.