α-Fe2O3/TiO2 anode for Li-storage and applications in LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4//α-Fe2O3/TiO2 full cells

α-Fe2O3 as one of the most promising anode materials of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has many advantages including a high theoretical specific capacity, high operating potentials offering high safety, low synthetic cost, and environmental friendliness. However, Fe2O3 suffers from rapid capacity fading caused by the huge volume change during charging and discharging processes. TiO2 as an anode of LIBs has excellent structural stability. In the work, α-Fe2O3/TiO2 composite has been synthesized via a one-pot solvothermal method. The combination of the two materials can produce complementary effects to make the composite have high specific capacities and good cycling performance. The TiO2 can buffer the large volume variation of Fe2O3 during cycling and prevent the Fe2O3 particles from pulverization and aggregation. In addition, the effects of the solvothermal reaction time and the TiO2 content on the physical and electrochemical performance have been researched in detail. The α-Fe2O3/TiO2-24-0.5 anode with the solvothermal reaction time of 24 h and the TiO2 content of 22 wt% shows the best electrochemical performance. 711.2 mAh/g is obtained at 0.1 A/g for the sample. Cycling for 200 cycles, 510.7 and 450.1 mAh/g are obtained at 0.5 and 1 A/g, respectively. Moreover, α-Fe2O3/TiO2-24-0.5 as the anode is applied in the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4//α-Fe2O3/TiO2-24-0.5 full cell, which can deliver 718.7 mAh/g at 0.5C in 1.7–4.6 V. The full cell can power different color light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and light strings. This study presents the successful utilization of α-Fe2O3/TiO2 in the full cells for the first time, showing the potential applications of the composite.