Three-Dimensional Graphene Foam Supported Fe3O4 Lithium Battery Anodes with Long Cycle Life and High Rate Capability

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 13; no. 12; pp. 6136 - 6143
• Main Authors: Luo, Jingshan, Liu, Jilei, Zeng, Zhiyuan, Ng, Chi Fan, Ma, Lingjie, Zhang, Hua, Lin, Jianyi, Shen, Zexiang, Fan, Hong Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 11.12.2013
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation; Electric Power Supplies; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Electrochemical conversion: primary and secondary batteries, fuel cells; Electrodes; Exact sciences and technology; Ferric Compounds - chemistry; Fullerenes and related materials; diamonds, graphite; Graphite - chemistry; Lithium - chemistry; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Materials science; Nanostructures - chemistry; Physics; Specific materials; Surface Properties; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); iron oxide; 3D graphene foam; atomic layer deposition; lithium ion battery; Li ion storage; high rate capability; Lithium battery; Atomic layer method; Composite materials; Graphene; Porous materials; Crystal growth from vapors; Electrode material; Nanostructures; Mesoporosity
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl403461n

Fe3O4 has long been regarded as a promising anode material for lithium ion battery due to its high theoretical capacity, earth abundance, low cost, and nontoxic properties. However, up to now no effective and scalable method has been realized to overcome the bottleneck of poor cyclability and low rate capability. In this article, we report a bottom-up strategy assisted by atomic layer deposition to graft bicontinuous mesoporous nanostructure Fe3O4 onto three-dimensional graphene foams and directly use the composite as the lithium ion battery anode. This electrode exhibits high reversible capacity and fast charging and discharging capability. A high capacity of 785 mAh/g is achieved at 1C rate and is maintained without decay up to 500 cycles. Moreover, the rate of up to 60C is also demonstrated, rendering a fast discharge potential. To our knowledge, this is the best reported rate performance for Fe3O4 in lithium ion battery to date.