Polyaniline-coated flower-like iron oxide served as anode material for superior-performance lithium-ion batteries

Transition metal oxides applied in anode for lithium-ion batteries are susceptible to particle aggregation during the cycling test, resulting in a low capacity retention during cycling process. In this study, Fe 2 O 3 /polyaniline microflowers were prepared via a simple liquid-phase oxidation and calcination process followed by polyaniline coating. Several characterization techniques demonstrated their morphology and chemical composition. When applied in anode for lithium-ion batteries, Fe 2 O 3 /polyaniline microflowers exhibit an ultrahigh specific capacity of 1847.1 mAh g-1 over 100 cycles at 0.1 A/g. A high specific capacity of 619.8 mAh g-1 was achieved after 300 cycles at 1.0 A/g. The high performance is mainly due to the polyaniline coating and flower-like microstructures, which can mitigate the volume change, improve the electrical conductivity and cycling stability, and contribute to the rapid Li + diffusion. This work provides a new route for synthesizing advanced-performance Fe 2 O 3-based anode material.