Facile Synthesis of FeS@C Particles Toward High-Performance Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Xuanni Lin,Dong Liu,Anru Guo,Zhuoyi Yang

doi:10.3390/nano9101467

Abstract

High energy density batteries with high performance are significantly important for intelligent electrical vehicular systems. Iron sulfurs are recognized as one of the most promising anodes for high energy density lithium-ion batteries because of their high theoretical specific capacity and relatively stable electrochemical performance. However, their large-scale commercialized application for lithium-ion batteries are plagued by high-cost and complicated preparation methods. Here, we report a simple and cost-effective method for the scalable synthesis of nanoconfined FeS in porous carbon (defined as FeS@C) as anodes by direct pyrolysis of an iron(III) p-toluenesulfonate precursor. The carbon architecture embedded with FeS nanoparticles provides a rapid electron transport property, and its hierarchical porous structure effectively enhances the ion transport rate, thereby leading to a good electrochemical performance. The resultant FeS@C anodes exhibit high reversible capacity and long cycle life up to 500 cycles at high current density. This work provides a simple strategy for the mass production of FeS@C particles, which represents a critical step forward toward practical applications of iron sulfurs anodes.

Highlights

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have gained great success as an energy storage technology for portable electronics due to their stable electrochemical performance, low cost, high energy density, and environmental compatibility [1,2,3]
Iron and sulfur elements of the IPTH precursor formed FeS nanoparticles, and benzenesulfonic acid transformed to a carbon network, leading to a one-step formation of the FeS@C particles by nanoconfining FeS nanoparticles in porous carbon materials
The third mass loss occurred from 448 ◦C and indicated that iron(III) p-toluenesulfonate decomposed and converted most of the thermally stable benzene domain into graphitic carbon embedded with FeS nanoparticles

Summary

Introduction

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have gained great success as an energy storage technology for portable electronics due to their stable electrochemical performance, low cost, high energy density, and environmental compatibility [1,2,3]. With ever-increasing energy storage requirements, developing new electrode materials with a high specific capacity and stable electrochemical performance has emerged as a very promising solution to increase the energy density and cycle life of LIBs [4]. Substantial progress has been made toward resolving the issues caused by volume change during the charge/discharge process, there are still some problems. Among these high specific capacity anodes, metal sulfides have been attracting much attention owing to their good rate capacity and cycling performance [10]. Developing metal sulfides as anodes for LIBs is significantly important

Methods

Results

Conclusion