X-ray diffraction study of LiFePO4 synthesized by hydrothermal method

Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis using LiOH·H2O, FeSO4·7H2O and H3PO4 as raw materials. We report the effects of pH, reaction temperature and reaction time on the structure properties including crystallite size, lattice parameters, and (020) crystallographic direction of LiFePO4 particles by X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. The chemical process of the precipitation from Li–Fe(II)–P–H2O system was also investigated. We present the evolution of the product by a solubilization-reprecipitation mechanism based on the difference of solubility products (Ksp) of different precipitates. It provides an effective and reasonable way to prepare nano-LiFePO4 with excellent structure properties.