FeOOH derived urchin-like Fe2O3@C as superior anode for sodium ion storage

Abstract

Although Fe2O3 is a promising anode material in terms of high capacity, especially, abundance and environmentally friendly, its developments are impeded by the inevitable volume change during electrochemical reactions. Engineering novel nanostructure is an effective approach to maximize the potential in electrochemical properties of Fe2O3. Herein, urchin-like Fe2O3@C composite driven from FeOOH has been successfully synthesized by a facile and mild hydrothermal method followed by carbon coating and annealing treatment. Thanks to the synergetic effect by unique structure with rich exposed active sites and high surface area, as well as the complete carbon coating, the Fe2O3@C composite exhibited excellent rate capability and cycling performance, delivering a significant capacity 267.2 mA h g−1 at a high current density of 5 A g−1 and more than 430 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.2 A g−1.