Controlled Hydrothermal/Solvothermal Synthesis of High‐Performance LiFePO4 for Li‐Ion Batteries

Abstract The sluggish Li‐ion diffusivity in LiFePO 4 , a famous cathode material, relies heavily on the employment of a broad spectrum of modifications to accelerate the slow kinetics, including size and orientation control, coating with electron‐conducting layer, aliovalent ion doping, and defect control. These strategies are generally implemented by employing the hydrothermal/solvothermal synthesis, as reflected by the hundreds of publications on hydrothermal/solvothermal synthesis in recent years. However, LiFePO 4 is far from the level of controllable preparation, due to the lack of the understanding of the relations between the synthesis condition and the nucleation‐and‐growth of LiFePO 4 . In this paper, the recent progress in controlled hydrothermal/solvothermal synthesis of LiFePO 4 is first summarized, before an insight into the relations between the synthesis condition and the nucleation‐and‐growth of LiFePO 4 is obtained. Thereafter, a review over surface decoration, lattice substitution, and defect control is provided. Moreover, new research directions and future trends are also discussed.