Pulsed Laser Deposition and Electrochemical Properties of LiFePO[sub 4] Thin Films

Well-crystallized and homogeneous films, of the order of 300 nm thick, have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on Pt-capped Si substrates in a one-step process. Their intrinsic lithium insertion properties have been evaluated both in aqueous and nonaqueous electrolytes. The films show the electrochemical fingerprint characteristic of pure triphylite with, namely, equilibrium voltage at 3.42 V vs. While carbon-free, the kinetic of the insertion/deinsertion process in such films compared favorably with those of optimized carbon-coated powders. Furthermore, we demonstrate sensor responses of these thin-film electrodes toward the quantitative detection of ions in aqueous solutions as long as their concentration ranges from to 1 M.