Facile synthesis of porous iron oxides heterostructural nanosheets as an enhanced anode material for lithium ion battery

To solve the common problems of intrinsically poor electrical conductivity and drastic volume expansion of the Fe2O3 anode in lithium-ion batteries, we synthesized porous Fe2O3 heterostructural nanosheets with beta-Fe2O3/alpha-Fe2O3 by simple pyrolyzing of iron(III) ethylene diamine tetra acetate (Fe-EDTA) precursor and subsequently washing to remove NaCl particles formed in situ. Porous Fe2O3 nanosheets combining the advantages of large-area porous structure and beta-Fe2O3/alpha-Fe2O3 heterostructure as an anode showed improved lithium ion storage performance. The porous nanosheets exhibited a high reversible capacity (1131.1 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 1.0 A g(-1) after 300 cycles), and a remarkable rate capability of 505 mA h g(-1) at 10 A g(-1).

Automated summary

To address the issues of poor electrical conductivity and volume expansion in Fe2O3 anodes for lithium-ion batteries, researchers synthesized porous Fe2O3 nanosheets with a heterostructural beta-Fe2O3/alpha-Fe2O3 composition. Through simple pyrolysis and subsequent washing, the nanosheets exhibited improved lithium-ion storage performance, with high reversible capacity and fast charging capability.