Preparation of porous and hollow Fe3O4@C spheres as an efficient anode material for a high-performance Li-ion battery

Carbon coated porous nanospheres (p-Fe3O4@C) were successfully synthesized by the pyrolysis treatment at 500 degrees C of glucose coated porous Fe3O4 spheres and used as an anode material for lithium-ion battery applications. Compared with pure porous Fe3O4 (p-Fe3O4), hollow Fe3O4 (h-Fe3O4) and carbon coated hollow Fe3O4 (h-Fe3O4@C), the as-prepared composite exhibited much better electrochemical performance with a high reversible capacity of 875 mA h g(-1) after 50 cycles at a current rate of 0.1 C. Even at a current rate of 1 C (1 C = 928 mA h g(-1)) and after 300 charge and discharge cycles, the reversible capacity was still as high as about 600 mA h g(-1). The improved lithium storage performance was attributed to the presence of an inner pore structure and the carbon layer of the p-Fe3O4@C granting extremely high mechanical support to the whole framework, which could not only prevent the large volume change of Fe3O4, but also improve the electrochemical activity and the stability of the material. The superior electrochemical properties of p-Fe3O4@C nanospheres means they might have promising applications in high performance Li-ion batteries.