Facile Preparation of Interlocked Fe2O3/MOF Composite for Boosted Rate and Cycle Performance of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Iron oxide (Fe2O3) is emerging as a potential anode alternative for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the merits of high specific capacity, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. However, trapped by unsatisfactory cycling stability and rate capability, further modification is needed for Fe2O3 to achieve practical requirements. In this study, a Fe2O3-based composite anode (namely Fe2O3@HA-Fe-BPDC) with interlocked structure was designed and synthesized for pursuing enhanced electrochemical properties. Benefiting from the porous structure, abundant active sites, and good tolerance to volume expansion, the as-prepared electrode exhibits significantly boosted rate capability, excellent specific capacity, and satisfactory reversibility. Typically, the Fe2O3@HA-Fe-BPDC anode provided an excellent specific capacity of 708 mAh g–1 at 0.1 A g–1 and remained at a high level of 332 mAh g–1 at 1 A g–1, delivering significantly improved rate performance than Fe2O3. Additionally, outstanding capacity retention (95.4%) was achieved at 1 A g–1 after 600 charge/discharge cycles. The strategy based on the facile coprecipitation for fabricating Fe2O3 and MOF composite electrodes provides a feasible technique to develop a high-performance anode for LIBs.