Facile Fabrication of Fe₃O₄@TiO₂@C Yolk–Shell Spheres as Anode Material for Lithium Ion Batteries

Abstract

Transition metal oxides have been actively exploited for application in lithium ion batteries due to their facile synthesis, high specific capacity, and environmental-friendly. In this paper, Fe₃O₄@TiO₂@C yolk–shell (Y–S) spheres, used as anode material for lithium ion batteries, were successfully fabricated by Stӧber method. XRD patterns reveal that Fe₃O₄@TiO₂@C Y–S spheres possess a good crystallinity. But the diffraction peaks’ intensity of Fe₃O₄ crystals in the composites is much weaker than that of bare Fe₃O₄ spheres, indicating that the outer anatase TiO₂@C layer can cover up the diffraction peaks of inner Fe₃O₄ spheres. The yolk–shell structure of Fe₃O₄@TiO₂@C spheres is further characterized by TEM, HAADF-STEM, and EDS mapping. The yolk–shell structure is good for improving the cycling stability of the inner Fe₃O₄ spheres during lithium ions insertion–extraction processes. When tested at 200 mA/g, the Fe₃O₄@TiO₂@C Y–S spheres can provide a stable discharge capacity of 450 mAh/g over 100 cycles, which is much better than that of bare Fe₃O₄ spheres and TiO₂@C spheres. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry curves show that the composites have a good cycling stability compared to bare Fe₃O₄ spheres.

Keywords

Fe₃O₄@TiO₂@C yolk–shell spheres / Cycle performance / Lithium ion batteries / Anode material

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