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The influence of different conductive additives (carbon nanofibers (CNFs), carbon nanoplatelets, and pyrolytic carbon from sucrose (Sucr) or polyvinylidene fluoride) on the morphology, electron conductivity, and electrochemical performance of LiFePO4-based cathodes was investigated to develop the most efficient strategy for the fabrication of high-rate cathodes. Pyrolytic carbon effectively prevents the growth of LiFePO4 grains and provides contact between them, CNFs provide fast long-range conductive pathways, while carbon nanoplatelets can be embedded in carbon coatings as high-conductive "points" which enhance the rate capability and decrease the capacity fading of LFP. The LiFePO4/CSucr/CNF showed better performance than the other cathodes due to the synergy of the high-conductive CNF network (the electronic conductivity was 1.3 × 10−2 S/cm) and the shorter Li+ ion path (the lithium-ion diffusion coefficient was 2.1 × 10−11 cm2/s). It is shown that the formation of composites based on LFP and carbon nanomaterials via mortar grinding is a more promising strategy for electrode material manufacturing than ball milling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]