Self-Assembled Mace-Like Fe3O4 Nanostructures as a Lithium–Air Battery Cathode Material

Abstract

Mace-like Fe3O4 nanostructures with a length of 200–300 nm and a diameter of 10–30 nm were successfully synthesized via a microemulsion-mediated solvothermal method and used as an electrode catalyst for lithium–air batteries. The results showed that the mace-like Fe3O4 nanostructures were obtained by adjusting the NaOH concentration and reaction temperature, and by adding polyethylene glycol-1000. The growth and assembly mechanism of the mace-like Fe3O4 nanostructures was also discussed. Polyethylene glycol-1000 not only acted as a soft template to form Fe3O4 nanorods, but also assisted in the assembly of the Triton X-100-decorated Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto the nanorods. The results of charge–discharge tests showed that the lithium–air battery based on mace-like Fe3O4 nanostructures exhibited a high discharge capacity of 1427 mA h g−1 in ambient air. The unique one-dimensional mace-like Fe3O4 nanostructures could effectively enhance the catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reduction process, which is effective for decreasing the charging potential plateau.

Study on Spinel Iron-Based Chalcogenides as Bi-Functional Cathode Catalysts for Li-O2Battery

“…Therefore, it could be figured out that Fe 3 S 4 outperforms Fe 3 O 4 as cathode catalyst for Li-O 2 battery, judging from both the electrochemical kinetics and battery performance. When compared with the reported data for Fe 3 O 4 catalysts in literatures, [35][36][37] the specific capacity of Fe 3 O 4 based Li-O 2 battery in this work is about 2.5 times higher as diagramed in Fig. 3d.…”

Three-Dimensional Nanofibrous Air Electrode Assembled With Carbon Nanotubes-Bridged Hollow Fe2O3 Nanoparticles for High-Performance Lithium–Oxygen Batteries

“…9,10 Lv et al synthesized macelike Fe-based oxide and used it as porous cathode material for LOBs. 11 However, intrinsic electronic conductivity of iron-based oxide is very low, leading to considerable loss of energy density in LOBs; therefore, it should be mixed with inexpensive conducting carbon materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and carbon nanofibers (CNFs)). 12−14 For examples, Wu et al synthesized Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles (NPs) supported by Vulcan XC-72 carbon as LOB cathode and suggested that Fe 2 O 3 coupled with conductive carbon can effectively reduce charge overpotential.…”

“…Among them, conductive metals, such as cobalt (Co), ruthenium (Ru), and gold (Au), have been introduced as efficient and stable catalysts. − However, these catalysts are expensive; thus, their use might be limited in practical level of Li–O 2 cell fabrication. As one of the alternatives to these, iron (Fe)-based catalysts have been employed as an O 2 cathode material because they are cost-effective and abundant in earth’s crust. , Lv et al synthesized macelike Fe-based oxide and used it as porous cathode material for LOBs . However, intrinsic electronic conductivity of iron-based oxide is very low, leading to considerable loss of energy density in LOBs; therefore, it should be mixed with inexpensive conducting carbon materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and carbon nanofibers (CNFs)). − For examples, Wu et al synthesized Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles (NPs) supported by Vulcan XC-72 carbon as LOB cathode and suggested that Fe 2 O 3 coupled with conductive carbon can effectively reduce charge overpotential .…”

Fe3O4 anodes for lithium batteries: Production techniques and general applications

“…This strategy has been shown to enhance the cell ability to have an initial discharge capacity of 1429 mAh g À1 at 1.5e4.5 V and 100 mA g À1 . In another work, we prepared mace-like Fe 3 O 4 nanostructures using a solvothermal method in cyclohexane/Triton X-100/n-amyl alcohol/water system [26]. The results of chargeedischarge tests based on these nanostructures exhibited a high discharge capacity of 1427 mAh g À1 in ambient air.…”