Nanomeshes of highly crystalline nitrogen-doped carbon encapsulated Fe/Fe3C electrodes as ultrafast and stable anodes for Li-ion batteries

Fe/Fe3C homogeneously dispersed in 2D porous nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon nanomeshes (N-Fe/Fe3C@C nanomeshes) was prepared by a novel template-free method using the polypyrrole-Fe (PPy-Fe) coordination complex as a precursor. The designed architecture is beneficial to electron transport and accommodation of the strains of Li insertion/extraction. As an anode material for Li-ion batteries, the as-prepared composite exhibits a reversible capacity of 1316 mA h g(-1) (normalized to the mass of Fe/Fe3C in the composite) with extremely excellent cycling performance at high rate (nearly 100% capacity retention after 500 cycles) and good rate capability. The synthesis approach presents a promising route for a large-scale production of N-Fe/Fe3C@C nanomesh composites as an extremely durable high-rate anode material for Li-ion batteries.