Electrode reaction-driven orientation regrowth of Fe2O3 crystals from novel dendritic architecture in anode of lithium-ion batteries

Morphology design is one effective strategy for improving the rate capability and cycling stability of Fe 2 O 3 anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a kind of dendritic Fe 2 O 3 architecture was prepared through a hydrothermal route in which glycine molecules guide crystal growth and turn into carbon in the final composite. The special coralloid Fe 2 O 3 /NC composite integrates the structure advantages of porous and low-dimensional regular electrode materials. The mutually supportive architecture provides more space to exchange ions with electrolyte and accommodate mechanical stress to suppress volume change, and improves better electron conductivity compared to isolated particles. The Fe 2 O 3 /NC delivers 837.6 mAh g −1 at 10 A g −1 and maintains 788 mAh g −1 after a long-term life of 1000 cycles. One more discovery is that the dendritic Fe 2 O 3 architecture grows into needle-like crystals driven by electrode reaction revolved to ion migration and crystal regeneration.