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The iron oxide-based anode materials are widely studied and reported due to their abundance, low cost, high energy density and environmental friendliness for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, the application of LIBs is always limited by the poor rate capability and stability. In order to tackle these issues, a novel material with carbon-encapsulated Fe 3 O 4 nanorods stuck together by multilevel porous carbon (Fe 3 O 4 @C/PC) is prepared through directly carbonizing the Fe-based metal-organic framework under a nitrogen atmosphere. This novel material shows a high specific capacity and rate performance. The initial specific capacity can reach 1789 mAh g −1 at a current density of 0.1 A g −1 , and the specific capacity still remains 1105.3 mAh g −1 and 783.5 mAh g −1 after 150 cycles at the current densities of 0.1 A g −1 and 1 A g −1 , respectively. Even under a current density as high as 12 A g −1 , the specific capacity can achieve 309 mAh g −1 after 2000 cycles with an average attenuation rate of 0.019% per cycle. Overall, the simple strategy, low cost and high capacity can make the practical application possible.

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Oxygen reduction electrocatalysts play important roles in metal–air batteries. Herein, Fe3C-TiN heterostructural quantum dots loaded on carbon nanotubes (FCTN@CNTs) are prepared as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) through a one-pot pyrolysis. The Fe3C-TiN quantum dots with a diameter of 2–5 nm show the unique characteristic of heterostructural interface. The as-prepared FCTN@CNTs display Pt/C comparable ORR performance (E onset 1.06 and E 1/2 0.95 V) in alkaline medium, which is ascribed to the heterostructural interface between TiN and Fe3C. Furthermore, the Al–air batteries with the FCTN@CNT catalyst display superior discharge performance, demonstrating good feasibility for practical application. This work provides an effective new method to synthesize affordable and efficient oxygen reduction reaction catalysts.