PerspectiveFacile and efficient synthesis of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals by glucose-assisted thermal decomposition method and its application in lithium ion batteries
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are being widely applied as power source for portable electronic devices and electrical vehicles owing to their attracting features, such as large power and energy densities, long cyclic life, and environmental friendliness [[1], [2], [3], [4]]. To meet the ever-increasing requirements for higher energy storage density of LIBs, the development of high capacity electrode active materials is desperately desired. However, the conventional graphite anode suffers a low theoretical capacity (372 mAh g−1) and poor rate performance. Nanostructured transition metal oxides (TMOs) have attracted great attention due to their high theoretical capacity, abundant raw materials, and enhanced safety [[5], [6], [7], [8], [9]]. Among them, iron-based oxides are notable due to their high theoretical capacity, abundance, low cost, and environmental friendliness [10]. In particular, α-Fe2O3 has been considered as one of the most promising anode materials for next generation LIBs because of its advantages of high theoretical capacity (1007 mAh g−1), abundant sources, nontoxicity, and low cost [11,12]. The mechanism of lithiation/delithiation reaction of Fe2O3 is an electrochemical conversion process (Fe2O3 + 6Li ↔ 2Fe + 3Li2O) [1,[13], [14], [15]]. In spite of these attractive features, the rapid capacity degradation and poor cyclability attributed to the dramatic volume changes (∼90%) of α-Fe2O3 during lithiation/delithiation cycles severely hamper the practical application of this materials in LIBs [[16], [17], [18], [19]]. It is well recognized that nanostructured materials could not only effectively release the strain stress caused by volume change, but also offer short Li+ diffusion pathways, which are determining factors for improving the cyclic stability and rate performance of electrode [4,20]. Consequently, a variety of nanostructured α-Fe2O3, such as nanoparticles [21], nanorods [22,23], nanowires [24], nanotubes [25], nanosheets [26], and nanoflowers [27], have been synthesized to enhance the cyclic performance and rate capability. It should be noted that most of the reported methods, such as hydrothermal/solvothermal method [22,28], template method [29], and electrospinning technique [30] for synthesizing these nanostructured α-Fe2O3 are generally time-consuming, including sophisticated steps, high energy consumption, and difficult to scale up, which greatly limit the development and practical application of nanostructured α-Fe2O3 in LIBs. Therefore, it is still a big challenge but desirable to pursue a facile, efficient, and low-cost method for massive production of nanostructured α-Fe2O3 with high performances for next-generation LIBs.
In the present work, we reported an efficient, low-cost, and scalable strategy for the synthesis of interconnected α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles by a very facile one-step glucose-assisted thermal decomposition route. Such an interconnected α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals exhibit outstanding electrochemical performances in terms of high rate capability and long-term cycling stability, when evaluated as an anode material for LIBs. Furthermore, full cell was also assembled by using the α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals as anode together with LiCoO2 cathode, which shows good cycling performance and high capacity, implying its great potential application as electrode for LIBs. This work provides a facile and cost-effective method that is potential competitive for massive production of high-performance nanostructured electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage devices.
Section snippets
Preparation of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals
All chemicals employed in this work were of analytical reagent grade and used without further purification. The α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals were prepared via a facile one-step thermal decomposition route. In a typical synthesis, 2 g glucose and 2 g FeSO4·7H2O were dissolved in 5 mL of distilled water under ultrasonication to form a pale green mixed solution. Then, the mixed solution was transferred into a crucible and heated in a muffle furnace at 600 °C for 3 h at a ramp of 5 °C min−1 in air to
Microstructures of the prepared sample
Fig. 1 shows the XRD pattern of the as-prepared α-Fe2O3 sample. All the diffraction peaks can be perfectly indexed to the rhombohedral phase of hematite (α-Fe2O3, JCPDS 33–0664). The well-defined diffraction peaks suggest the high degree of crystallinity. The calculated lattice constants of the as-prepared α-Fe2O3 sample are a = b = 5.036 and c = 13.749 Å, which are identical with the standard JCPDF card (a = b = 5.036 and c = 13.749 Å), indicating its good crystallinity. The size and surface
Conclusions
Interconnected α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals have been prepared by a very facile and low-cost one-step thermal decomposition method with FeSO4·7H2O and glucose as raw materials. When evaluated as anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), the α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1100 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 300 cycles, and 690 mAh g−1 at 3 A g−1 after 800 cycles; Even at the ultrahigh current of 10 A g−1, a comparable capacity of 406 mAh g−1 is still retained.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51464009 and 51664012), Guangxi Natural Science Foundation of China (2017GXNSFAA198117 and 2015GXNSFGA139006), Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magnetochemical Functional Materials (EMFM20181102/EMFM20181117), and Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education of China (YCSW2018159).
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