Chemical vapor deposition prepared bi-morphological carbon-coated Fe3O4 composites as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Carbon coated Fe3O4 composite (Fe3O4@C) with bi-morphological architecture has been prepared via a chemical vapor deposition at 450 degrees C from Fe2O3 nanoparticles by using acetylene as the deposition vapor and carbon source. The Fe2O3 are fully reduced to Fe3O4 in a 10 min of deposition, showing submicronsized octahedral Fe3O4 particles coated partially with a thin carbon layer mainly, and a few nano-sized Fe3O4 particles coated with carbon also. The deposition period of 20 min results in a further growth of the octahedral Fe3O4 particles and a reduction of the number of the nano-sized ones, correlating to a thick and fully coated carbon layer. Impurities of iron carbides generate in the composite with further prolonging the deposition to 30 min. The Fe3O4@C composite from 20 min of deposition shows superior electrochemical property to others. An initial reversible capacity of 570 mAh g(-1) is obtained and the capacity fading is less than 5% after 60 cycles. The fabrication method is facile and time-saving. Such submicron size-predominated Fe3O4@C composite is hopefully not only favorable in alleviating the agglomeration of the iron oxide during cycling, but also helpful in getting high packing density of the anode material. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.