Energy Storage Science and Technology ›› 2023, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (5): 1469-1479.doi: 10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2023.0176

• Special Issue on Key Materials and Recycling Technologies for Energy Storage Batteries • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Preparation of three-dimensional multistage iron oxide/carbon nanofiber integrated electrode and sodium storage performance

Junpeng GUO1(), Qi SUN2, Yuefang CHEN1, Yuwen ZHAO1, Huan YANG1, Zhijia ZHANG1()   

  1. 1.School of Material Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Institute of Quantum Materials and Device, State Key Laboratory of Separation Membrane
    2.School of Mechanical Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
  • Received:2023-03-27 Revised:2023-04-07 Online:2023-05-05 Published:2023-05-29
  • Contact: Zhijia ZHANG E-mail:2131020386@tiangong.edu.cn;zhangzhijia@tiangong.edu.cn

Abstract:

Iron oxide is an anode material for sodium-ion batteries and has a high theoretical specific capacity; however, it undergoes large volume expansion during cycling and exhibits considerable capacity decay. The in situ construction of nanostructured metal oxides on flexible carbon-based materials can be an effective means to mitigate their volume expansion. Herein, porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were grown in situ on copper foam via chemical vapor deposition as a flexible conductive substrate. Furthermore, three-dimensional multistage integrated Fe3O4/CNF (3D Fe3O4/CNF) electrodes were prepared using a simple combination of salt solution impregnation and annealing and were used as the negative electrodes in sodium-ion batteries. The compositions and morphologies of the electrodes were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The electrochemical properties of the electrodes were characterized using constant current charge/discharge, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses. The results showed that Fe3O4 nanorods with a diameter of approximately 50—100 nm were uniformly dispersed on porous CNFs to construct a highly porous 3D multilevel structure. At a current density of 0.1 A/g, the integrated 3D Fe3O4/CNF electrode achieved a specific capacity of 893.4 mAh/g after 100 cycles, which is higher than CNF electrodes. Additionally, the integrated electrode exhibited faster sodium ion diffusion kinetics and better electrochemical reversibility than CNF electrodes. This study provides an idea and experimental basis for the study of metal oxide/carbon-based composite electrodes.

Key words: carbon nanofibers, Fe3O4, three-dimensional multi-level structure, sodium-ion battery anode

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