Superior lithium storage properties of α-Fe2O3 nano-assembled spindles

• Highly reversible capacity of ∼1024 mA h g−1 is achieved for α-Fe2O3 nanospindles.
• α-Fe2O3 nanospindles showed the capacity retention of over 90% after 40 cycles.
• Cyclic voltammetry clearly revealed the conversion reaction mechanism.

We report the synthesis and Li-cyclability of α-Fe2O3 nanospindles derived from Fe based metal organic framework (MOF). Presence of phase pure structure and nanospindle morphology is investigated through XRD and SEM/TEM analysis, respectively. Half-cell, Li/α-Fe2O3 delivered reversible capacity of ∼1024 mA h g−1 at current density of 100 mA g−1 and showed excellent cyclability with capacity retention of over 90% after 40 galvanostatic cycles. Further, MOF derived α-Fe2O3 nanospindles are capable of delivering good reversible capacity under high current cycling. This clearly reveals that, MOF is one of the unique approaches to yield high performance iron oxide anodes and this approach can be extended to other transition metal oxides to develop high performance electrode materials.

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