Improving the Capacity of Sodium Ion Battery Using
a Virus-Templated Nanostructured Composite Cathode
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Abstract
In this work we investigated an energy-efficient
biotemplated route to synthesize nanostructured FePO<sub>4</sub> for
sodium-based batteries. Self-assembled M13 viruses and single wall
carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been used as a template to grow amorphous
FePO<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles at room temperature (the active composite
is denoted as Bio-FePO<sub>4</sub>-CNT) to enhance the electronic
conductivity of the active material. Preliminary tests demonstrate
a discharge capacity as high as 166 mAh/g at C/10 rate, corresponding
to composition Na<sub>0.9</sub>FePO<sub>4</sub>, which along with
higher C-rate tests show this material to have the highest capacity
and power performance reported for amorphous FePO<sub>4</sub> electrodes
to date