Porous pyrrhotite Fe7S8 nanowire/SiOx/nitrogen-doped carbon matrix for high-performance Li-ion-battery anodes

Xiaotian Guo; Sibo Wang; Biao Yang; Yuxia Xu; Yong Liu; Huan Pang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.11.061

Porous pyrrhotite Fe₇S₈ nanowire/SiO_x/nitrogen-doped carbon matrix for high-performance Li-ion-battery anodes

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 Mar 1:561:801-807. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.11.061. Epub 2019 Nov 17.

Authors

Xiaotian Guo¹, Sibo Wang¹, Biao Yang¹, Yuxia Xu², Yong Liu³, Huan Pang⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, PR China.
² Guangling College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, PR China.
³ Henan Key Laboratory of Non-Ferrous Materials Science & Processing Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, PR China.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, PR China. Electronic address: huanpangchem@hotmail.com.

PMID: 31767394
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.11.061

Abstract

Iron sulfides, known as attractive anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, have been extensively studied. Nevertheless, low electrical conductivity and huge volume expansion of iron sulfides hinder its practical applications. Herein, a novel method was developed to synthesize ternary porous Fe₇S₈ nanowires/SiO_x/nitrogen-doped carbon matrix by facile hydrothermal method and subsequent sulfidation derived from bamboo leaves. The SiO_x/nitrogen-doped carbon matrix can ensure the growth of nanowires, maintain the structural stability, improve the conductivity and provide improved capacity of Fe₇S₈. The 3D matrix structure and porous properties of Fe₇S₈ nanowires effectively relieve the volume change upon the insertion/extraction of Li⁺. The Fe₇S₈/SiO_x/nitrogen-doped carbon anode exhibited a superior discharge capacity of 1060.2 mA h g^-1 at 200 mA g^-1 along with good long cycling performance of 415.8 mA h g^-1 at the 1000th cycle at 5 A g^-1. The facile strategy for preparing ternary Fe₇S₈ composites with superb LIB electrochemical performances demonstrates a great potential in electrochemical energy storage.

Keywords: Dynamics testing; Lithium-ion batteries; Porous pyrrhotite Fe(7)S(8) nanowire; SiO(x)/nitrogen-doped carbon matrix.