Magnetic field assisted high capacity durable Li-ion battery using magnetic α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles decorated expired drug derived N-doped carbon anode

Dipsikha Ganguly; Ajay Piriya V S; Anamika Ghosh; Sundara Ramaprabhu

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67042-1

Magnetic field assisted high capacity durable Li-ion battery using magnetic α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles decorated expired drug derived N-doped carbon anode

Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 19;10(1):9945. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67042-1.

Authors

Dipsikha Ganguly¹, Ajay Piriya V S¹, Anamika Ghosh¹, Sundara Ramaprabhu²

Affiliations

¹ Alternative Energy and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India.
² Alternative Energy and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India. ramp@iitm.ac.in.

Abstract

We have synthesized a novel ferromagnetic material by coating α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles with N-doped carbon matrix using a simple combustion method. Expired paracetamol drugs are used as nitrogen and carbon source. This α-Fe₂O₃/NC shows ferromagnetic property due to the incorporation of oxygen defects. When used as the Li-ion battery anode, α-Fe₂O₃/NC shows higher capacity compared to commercial α-Fe₂O₃ due to the occurrence of both intercalation and conversion reaction. Further, application of magnetic field at the anode of the freshly assembled cell at the first charge-discharge cycle, results in ~two-fold enhancement in specific capacity. For the cycled cell also, increase in the capacity from 80 mAh. g^-1 to 150 mAh. g^-1 at 5 A. g^-1 is observed during the application of magnetic field at the 501^st charging cycle. This improved performance is attributed to the field-dependent enhancement of diffusion and convection due to the magnetohydrodynamic effect. Further, application of the magnetic field at 1001^st, 1501^st and 1751^st charging cycles shows improved LIB performance. We can show that not only the magnetic field, magnetic properties of the anode α-Fe₂O₃/NC also play a crucial role in influencing the battery performance. Moreover, utilization of expired drug helps in dramatically reducing pollution caused by its disposal.