The Effect of Crystal Face of Fe2O3 on the Electrochemical Performance for Lithium-ion Batteries

Fe2O3 nanorods exposing (001) and (010) plane as well as Fe2O3 nanosheets exposing (001) plane have been successfully synthesized. Fe2O3 nanosheets exhibit better cycle performance and rate capabilities than that of Fe2O3 nanorods. The discharge capacity of Fe2O3 nanosheets can stabilize at 865 mAh/g at the rate of 0.2 C (1C = 1000 mA/g) and 570 mAh/g at the rate of 1.2 C after 80 cycles, which increased by 90% and 79% compared with 456 mAh/g and 318 mAh/g of Fe2O3 nanorods. In comparison with (010) plane, the (001) plane of hematite possesses larger packing density of Fe3+ and O2-, which is responsible for the superior electrochemical performances of Fe2O3 nanosheets than that of Fe2O3 nanorods. In addition, potentiostatic intermittent titration (PITT) results show the diffusion coefficients of Li+ (D-Li) of Fe2O3 nanosheets is higher than that of Fe2O3 nanorods. The higher diffusion coefficients of Li+ is favorable for the excellent lithium-storage capabilities and rate capability of Fe2O3 nanosheets. Inspired by our results, we can design and synthesize Fe2O3 or other electrodes with high performances according to their structure features in future.