Fabrication and Characterization of LiFePO4 Nanotubes by a Sol-gel-AAO Template Process

The LiFePO4 nanotubes were successfully fabricated by a sol-gel method with porous anodic aluminum oxide as the template. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that the synthe- sized LiFePO4 nanotubes were monodispersed and parallel to one another. Selected area electron diffraction pattern, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy investigations jointly demonstrated that the synthesized LiFePO4 nanotubes were pure olivine structure. This approach offered a potentially way for fabricating ordered LiFePO4 nanotubes at room temperature and ambient conditions, which might be expected to find promising application as a new cathode material in lithium ion battery.