Synthesis of FeS@C-N hierarchical porous microspheres for the applications in lithium/sodium ion batteries

FeS@C-N hierarchical porous microspheres composed of nanosheets were synthesized by a soft-template solvothermal method. The FeS nanoparticles with a diameter of similar to 6 nm are coated by amorphous N-doped carbon. When served as anode, the composite displays superior cycling stability and outstanding rate performance in lithium ion batteries. A high capacity of 983.5 mAh g(-1) could be delivered after 100 cycles at 100 mA g(-1). And 429.0 mAh g(-1) can be maintained during a long-term cycling test of 1800 cycles at 10 A g(-1). The application of FeS@C-N as anode in sodium ion batteries is also investigated with 354.5 mAh g(-1) retained after 500 cycles at 100 mA g(-1). And 365.4 mAh g(-1) could be obtained at 800 mA g(-1). The enhanced performances could be attributed to the peculiar micro-nano structure including nano-sized particles, one-dimensional nanosheets and porous microspheres. And the study clearly highlights the promising application of FeS@C-N composite in energy storage. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.