Controlled Engineering Nano-sized FeOOH@ZnO Hetero-Structures on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Lithium ion Storage and Photo-Fenton Reaction

In this work, a nano-sized goethite and zinc oxide hetero-structure (FeOOH@ZnO) dispersed on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets to construct a ternary composite (FeOOH@ZnO/RGO) is first synthesized by a stepped graphene oxide (GO) deoxygenation process. Ferrous ion (Fe2+) and metal Zn were employed as reducing agents, which were transformed to corresponding FeOOH and ZnO nanoparticles to form a hetero-structure in the reaction. Particularly, the size of the nanoparticles can be controlled by limiting the growth kinetics in this work. As a result, porous RGO architecture is constructed with well-dispersed hetero-structured nanoparticles constituted by FeOOH and ZnO nano-crystals encapsulated. The FeOOH@ZnO/RGO composite exhibits unique lithium ion storage properties as anode for lithium ion batteries. And compared with the binary FeOOH/RGO and ZnO/RGO composites, the ternary FeOOH@ZnO/RGO composite shows the best battery performance as anode for lithium ion batteries and the best photo-Fenton degradation activity toward methylene blue (MB) degradation under simulated sunlight irradiation. The preparation route for FeOOH@ZnO/RGO composite is straightforward, effective and has great potential to be scaled-up.