Glucose-Assisted One-Pot Synthesis of FeOOH Nanorods and Their Transformation to Fe3O4@Carbon Nanorods for Application in Lithium Ion Batteries

In this work, we demonstrate a facile one-pot glucose-mediated hydrothermal method for the synthesis of ferric oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) rodlike nanoparticles. It is found that the presence of glucose not only facilitates the formation of FeOOH nanorods but also gives rise to a uniform, glucose-derived, carbonrich polysaccharide (GCP) overlayer on the FeOOH nanorods. By varying the concentrations of ferric ion, the aspect ratios of these FeOOH nanorods can be readily tuned. The corresponding carbon-coated magnetite (Fe3O4@C) nanocomposites can be easily obtained by carbonizing the as-prepared GCP-coated FeOOH nanorods under inert atmosphere. These Fe3O4@C nanorods exhibit good cycling performance for lithium storage. Specifically, reversible capacities of as high as 808 mA h g(-1) can be retained after 100 charge discharge cycles, making them promising anode materials for lithium ion batteries.