Facile premixed flame synthesis C@Fe2O3/SWCNT as superior free-standing anode for lithium-ion batteries

Premixed flame configuration is considered as an effective method for the synthesis of carbon materials. In this work, flexible single-walled carbon nanotube network decorated by carbon-encapsulated Fe2O3 nanoparticles ([email protected]2O3/SWCNT) membrane was in-situ fabricated via a facile floating catalyst premixed ethanol flame method, and followed by annealing treatment. In this process, low-cost ethanol and ferrocene were used as carbon source and catalyst precursor for the synthesis of [email protected]2O3/SWCNT, respectively. Benefiting from the interconnected conductive network, the as-fabricated [email protected]2O3/SWCNT membrane was used as a free-standing anode for lithium-ion batteries. Structural characterization revealed that the ultrafine Fe2O3 nanoparticles homogeneously anchored on the SWCNT network, which facilitates the fast diffusion for electron. Furthermore, the carbon layers uniformly enwrap on Fe2O3 can effectively suppress the aggregation and buffer the volume change of Fe2O3 during the lithiation/delithiation process. Consequently, this material delivered an excellent lithium storage performance with a high reversible capacity of 1294.7 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1, and an excellent cyclability of 82.5% retention is obtained after cycles at 2 A g−1. This study provides a novel low-cost and fast method for preparing flexible advanced electrode for next-generation rechargeable batteries.