Morphology and electrical conductivity of carbon nanocoatings prepared from pyrolysed polymers

Conductive carbon nanocoatings (conductive carbon layers-CCL) were formed on \alpha-Al_{2}O_{3} model support using three different polymer precursors and deposition methods. This was done in an effort to improve electrical conductivity of the material through creating the appropriate morphology of the carbon layers. The best electrical properties were obtained with use of a precursor that consisted of poly-N-vinylformamide modified with pyromellitic acid (PMA). We demonstrate that these properties originate from a specific morphology of this layer that showed nanopores (3-4 nm) capable of assuring easy pathways for ion transport in real electrode materials. The proposed, water mediated, method of carbon coating of powdered supports combines coating from solution and solid phase and is easy to scale up process. The optimal polymer carbon precursor composition was used to prepare conductive carbon nanocoatings on LiFePO_{4} cathode material. Charge-discharge tests clearly show that C/LiFePO_{4} composites obtained using poly-N-vinylformamide modified with pyromellitic acid exhibit higher rechargeable capacity and longer working time in a battery cell than standard carbon/lithium iron phosphate composites.