Ball-milled FeP/graphite as a low-cost anode material for the sodium-ion battery

Authors

Qiuran Yang, University of WollongongFollow
Weijie Li, University of WollongongFollow
Shulei Chou, University of WollongongFollow
Jiazhao Wang, University of WollongongFollow
Hua-Kun Liu, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

103342

Publication Details

Yang, Q., Li, W., Chou, S., Wang, J. & Liu, H. (2015). Ball-milled FeP/graphite as a low-cost anode material for the sodium-ion battery. RSC Advances: an international journal to further the chemical sciences, 5 (98), 80536-80541.

Abstract

Phosphorus is a promising anode material for sodium batteries with a theoretical capacity of 2596 mA h g^-1. However, phosphorus has a low electrical conductivity of 1 x 10^-14 S cm^-1, which results in poor cycling and rate performances. Even if it is alloyed with conductive Fe, it still delivers a poor electrochemical performance. In this article, a FeP/graphite composite has been synthesized using a simple, cheap, and productive method of low energy ball-milling, which is an efficient way to improve the electrical conductivity of the FeP compound. The cycling performance was improved significantly, and when the current density increased to 500 mA g^-1, the FeP/graphite composite could still deliver 134 mA h g^-1, which was more than twice the capacity of the FeP compound alone. Our results suggest that by using a low-energy ball-milling method, a promising FeP/graphite anode material can be synthesized for the sodium battery.