Metal-Organic Gel-Derived Fe<i> _x </i> O<i> _y </i> /Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Films for Enhanced Lithium Storage

The development of cost-effective and flexible electrodes is demanding in the field of energy storage. Herein, flexible Fex Oy /nitrogen-doped carbon films (Fex Oy /NC-MOG) are prepared by facile electrospinning of Fe-based metal-organic gels (MOGs) followed by high-temperature carbonization. This approach allows the even mixing of fragile coordination polymers with polyacrylonitrile into flexible films while reserving the structural characteristics of coordination polymers. After thermal treatment, Fex Oy /NC-MOG films possess uniformly distributed Fex Oy nanoparticles and larger accessible surface areas than traditional Fex Oy -NC films without MOG. Taking advantage of the unique structure, Fex Oy /NC-MOG exhibits a superior rate performance (449.8 mA h g-1 at 5000 mA g-1 ) and long cycle life (629.3 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles at 1000 mA g-1 ) when used as additive-free anodes in lithium-ion batteries.