One Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of FeCO3 Cubes for High Performance Lithium-ion Battery Anodes

Abstract Uniform FeCO 3 cubes with edge length of ∼300 nm were prepared by a facile one-step hydrothermal reaction and studied as anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Interestingly, the FeCO 3 anode has an extremely high initial specific capacity of 1796 mAh g −1 . After cycling at a current rate of 200 mA g −1 for 130 cycles, an excellent discharge capacity of 761 mAh g −1 is still maintained. Moreover, the FeCO 3 anode exhibits significant high-rate capability, e.g., ∼430 mAh g −1 is obtained at a current rate of 1200 mA g −1 . The observation of the FeCO 3 cubes represents an important development of realizing both high capacity and good cycleability in conversion type anode materials for lithium-ion battery at the same time. Such cheap, easy-to-make, and environmentally benign material is promising for practical deployment for lithium ion batteries anode.