Synthesis and Electrochemical Properties of Fe2O3/rGO Nanocomposites as Lithium and Sodium Storage Materials

Metal oxides are promising high-capacity anode materials for lithium and sodium-ion batteries because of the reversible multi-electron structural conversion reactions with lithium and sodium ions. In this study, Fe2O3/rGO (reduced graphene oxide) nanocomposites were prepared using graphene oxide sheets and ferric salt as precursors through a one-step solvothermal method. The experimental results demonstrated that the Fe2O3 nanocrystals were uniformly dispersed on the surface of reduced graphene oxide sheets. The nanocomposite anodes show superior charge-discharge performances and cyclability in lithium and sodium ion batteries, indicating that reduced graphene oxide sheets can reduce the charge- transfer resistance and stabilize the structure change during cycling. It suggests a potential feasibility to use these metal oxide nanocomposites as high capacity anode materials for lithium and sodium ion batteries.