Patent ID: 8168150

Claim:
A method of preparing binary, ternary or quaternary lithium phosphate composites with carbon particles, wherein said lithium phosphate has a general formula: Li(Fe x M 1 y M 2 z )PO 4 , wherein M 1 represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Al, Zr, and La, M 2 represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Al, Zr, and La, and either a) x=between 0.5 and 1, y=between 0 and 0.5, z=between 0 and 0.5, provided that x+y+z=1; or b) x=0, y=1, z=0, and said carbon particles are present within the phosphate matrix of said lithium phosphate with a homogeneous distribution, the method comprising: precipitating precursor compounds of elements Li, Fe, M 1 and/or M 2 from aqueous solutions to obtain a precipitation product; drying the precipitation product in an inert gas atmosphere or a reducing atmosphere at a temperature of from about room temperature to about 200° C. to obtain a dried precipitation product; and tempering the dried precipitation product at a temperature of from about 300° C. and 1000° C. to produce the lithium phosphates; wherein the precipitation and/or the drying and tempering is taking place in the presence of additives, which under drying and tempering conditions, are transformed into matter that improves the processing and electrical materials characteristics of the lithium phosphate; wherein the additives used lead to a homogeneous distribution of carbon particles in the phosphate matrix after the drying and tempering process; and wherein the additives comprise one or more members selected from the group consisting of a polyalkylene glycol, starch, a starch derivative, a sugar, a sugar derivative, a mono- or a poly-carboxylic acid, and a derivative of a mono- or poly-carboxylic acid.