A microwave-assisted solid-state method with chitin (shrimp shell waste) used to synthesize cathode materials for lithium iron phosphate batteries

Ekawat  Ratchai; Montri  Luengchavanon; Kua-anan  Techato; Nyuk Yoong  Voo; Sorawit  Narkgrom

doi:10.6180/jase.202403_27(3).0002

A microwave-assisted solid-state method with chitin (shrimp shell waste) used to synthesize cathode materials for lithium iron phosphate batteries

Ekawat Ratchai¹, Montri Luengchavanon^1,4This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Kua-anan Techato¹, Warakorn Limbut², Nyuk Yoong Voo³, Sorawit Narkgrom⁴

¹Sustainable Energy Management Program, Wind Energy and Energy Storage Systems Centre, Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

²Division of Health and Applied Sciences, Forensic Science Innovation and Service Center, Center of Excellence for Trace Analysis and Biosensor, Center of Excellence for Innovation in Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

³Applied Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam

⁴PSU EV development Center, Faculty Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai, Songkhla, 90110, Thailand

Received: March 19, 2023
Accepted: May 22, 2023
Publication Date: July 23, 2023

Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202403_27(3).0002

Cathode material is not only a crucial component of lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP or LiFePO4 ) but is also ideally qualified for its low cost, non-toxicity, safety characteristics, and environmental friendliness. This work therefore aims to improve the cathode material efficiency for LiFePO4 . A microwave-assisted solid-state method with chitin (shrimp shell waste), an organic carbon source, was used to synthesize cathode materials for LiFePO4 (LFPM). The results revealed that the carbon element in the chitin-coated LFPM material is 19.80 wt%, which can be homogeneously mixed and has an average particle size of ∼380 nm. The optimal time for the synthesis of the LFPM cathode material by the microwave-assisted solid-state method is 5 minutes, resulting in a phase that is pure, high-quality crystalline, and has the greatest electrical conductivity. Regarding the electrochemical performance, the initial charge and discharge capacities were 112.09 and 112.11 mAh/g, respectively, and the columbic efficiency was 99.97% over 20 cycles. The initial energy density was 336.68 Wh/kg. It can be concluded that the cathode material for LiFePO4 synthesized by the microwave-assisted solid-state method, coated with carbon derived from chitin, has good electrical performance, can be manufactured on a large scale, and is commercially feasible.

Keywords: LiFePO4; Microwave-assisted solid-state synthesis; Carbon coating

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