Fe3O4@C Nanotubes Grown on Carbon Fabric as a Free-Standing Anode for High-Performance Li-Ion Batteries

Recently, Li-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted extensive attention owing to their wide applications in portable and flexible electronic devices. Such a huge market for LIBs has caused an ever-increasing demand for excellent mechanical flexibility, outstanding cycling life, and electrodes with superior rate capability. Herein, an anode of self-supported Fe₃O₄@C nanotubes grown on carbon fabric cloth (CFC) is designed rationally and fabricated through an in situ etching and deposition route combined with an annealing process. These carbon-coated nanotube structured Fe₃O₄ arrays with large surface area and enough void space can not only moderate the volume variation during repeated Li⁺ insertion/extraction, but also facilitate Li⁺/electrons transportation and electrolyte penetration. This novel structure endows the Fe₃O₄@C nanotube arrays stable cycle performance (a large reversible capacity of 900 mA h g^?1 up to 100 cycles at 0.5 A g^?1) and outstanding rate capability (reversible capacities of 1030, 985, 908, and 755 mA h g^?1 at 0.15, 0.3, 0.75, and 1.5 A g^?1, respectively). Fe₃O₄@C nanotube arrays still achieve a capacity of 665 mA h g^?1 after 50 cycles at 0.1 A g^?1 in Fe₃O₄@C//LiCoO₂ full cells.