The LiFePO₄ as cathode material for Ion Lithium batteries has been extensively studied. One of the main research interest lays on determining of charge and mass transport and their influence on specific capacity of the battery. Recent studies, the composition of the cathode slurry has been reported to influence battery performance and rate capability [1,2, 3]. However, in most studies based on effective medium equations, the intrinsic properties of each of the cathode constituents have been neglected. In this work, the effect of the composition on the geometrical and transport properties in a LiFePO₄ cathode is studied theoretically and experimentally. To carry out this, an effective medium model is developed, using the volumetric averaging method. This alternative allows to theoretically predict the effective medium coefficients through a closure problem [4]. The solution of closure problems is carried out in representative samples of the porous cathode obtained by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The theoretical predictions of the effective coefficients show good fit with those obtained experimentally, where it can be seen that there are deviations between the coefficients when taking into account the properties of the additional materials that make up the LiFePo4 cathode material. With this first stage of our results we have the possibility to analyze the behavior of the LiFePO₄ cathode.

1. Guzman, G., et al., Electrochimica Acta 247 (2017) 451-459
2. Gao, F. and Z. Tang, Electrochimica Acta, 53 (2008) 5071-5075.
3. Liu, H., et al., 159 (2006) 717-720.
4. Whitaker, S. (1999) The Method of Volume Averaging. ISBN 0-7923-5486-9