Carbon-coated metal chalcogenide composites have been
demonstrated
as one type of promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs).
However, combining carbon materials with micronanoparticles of metal
chalcogenide always involve complicated processes, such as polymer
coating, carbonization, and sulfidation/selenization. To address this
issue, herein, we reported a series of carbon-coated Fe
x
Se
y
@CN (Fe
x
Se
y
= FeSe2, Fe3Se4, Fe7Se8) composites
prepared via the thermodynamic transformation of a crystalline organic
hybrid iron selenide [Fe(phen)2](Se4) (phen
= 1,10-phenanthroline). By pyrolyzing the bulk crystals of [Fe(phen)2](Se4) at different temperatures, Fe
x
Se
y
microrods were formed
in situ, where the nitrogen-doped carbon layers were coated on the
surface of the microrods. Moreover, all the as-prepared Fe
x
Se
y
@CN composites exhibited
excellent sodium-ion storage capabilities as anode materials in SIBs.
This work proves that crystalline organic hybrid metal chalcogenides
can be used as a novel material system for the in situ formation of
carbon-coated metal chalcogenide composites, which could have great
potential in the application of electrochemical energy storage.