Selective etching induced Fe3O4 cubes with orderly aligned porous structure for the effective lithium-ion storage and bisphenol A degradation

Abstract

A novel nitrogen-doped carbon coated Fe3O4 cubes (Fe3O4@N-C) with orderly aligned porous (OA-P) structure was prepared by an acid etching and a carbothermic reduction process. This unique Fe3O4@N-C cubes demonstrated excellent performances in both lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and bisphenol A (BPA) degradation with PMS activation. As an excellent anode for LIBs, the Fe3O4@N-C with unique OA-P structure could effectively accelerate the Li+ and electron transfer, relieve the volume expansion during Li+ insertion/desertion and enhance the electrical conductivity, which attributed to the reversible capacity of 985.6 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at the current density of 100 mA g−1. As employed in the PMS activated BPA degradation, the Fe3O4@N-C achieved a degradation rate of 99.8% within 60 min with good stability, which is contributed to the synergistic effects of the increased adsorption and activation sites for PMS and the facilitated mass transport due to the OA-P structures. In addition, the activate-species quench tests and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements revealed that the 1O2-based non-radical path played a dominant role in the BPA degradation.