Fe2O3@C nanocomposites as anode materials for lithium- and sodium ion batteries with high cyclic stability

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Rüdiger Klingeler
• Subject Area: Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis ; Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials
• Term: from 2018 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 421062477

Final Report Abstract

The project is based on a collaboration between Inorganic Chemistry (G. Zakharova, RAS Yekaterinburg) and Materials Science/Condensed Matter Physics (R. Klingeler, U Heidelberg). It mainly included a 3-month secondment of Prof. Zakharova at Heidelberg University. During that research stay, a variety of Fe2O3/C and Fe3O4/C nanocomposites was synthesized by different hydrothermal methods. This includes the fabrication of α-Fe2O3 nanoballs for the first time and of Fe3O4 microballs via micro-wave assisted hydrothermal synthesis. The materials have been in detail studied with respect to their structure, morphology, composition, C-content, and magnetic and electrochemical properties. Heat treatment yields a better long term cyclic performance commercial α−Fe2O3. This indicates that both microwave-assisted and conventional hydrothermal synthesis procedures provide a more stable structure supporting the electrochemical reactions in Fe2O3. The work on Fe2O3/C nanocomposites is part of a long-term collaboration on investigation of the physico-chemical properties of nanocomposites, which are perspective materials for lithium ion batteries.

Publications

• Hydrothermal microwave-assisted synthesis of Li3VO4 as an anode for lithium-ion battery, J of Solid State Electrochemistry 23, 2205-2212 (2019)
  G.S. Zakharova, E. Thauer, S.A. Wegener, J.-H. Nölke, Q. Zhu, R. Klingeler
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-019-04315-4)
• MoO2/C composites prepared by tartaric acid and glucose-assisted sol-gel processes as anode materials for Lithium-ion batteries
  G.S. Zakharova, L. Singer, Z.A. Fattakhova, S. Wegener, E. Thauer, Q. Zhu, E.V. Shalaeva, R. Klingeler
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2012.05719)
• Sol-gel synthesis of Li3VO4/C composites as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 853 157364 (2021)
  E. Thauer, G.S. Zakharova, S.A. Wegener, Q. Zhu, R. Klingeler
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.157364)