Stöber-like method to synthesize ultradispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles on graphene with excellent Photo-Fenton reaction and high-performance lithium storage

• Fe3O4/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was synthesized by a Stöber-like method.
• Fe3O4 nanoparticles (3–8 nm) were highly dispersed on the surface of RGO.
• Fe3O4/RGO exhibited a high and ultrastable Photo-Fenton activity.
• Fe3O4/RGO showed very excellent reversible lithium storage capacity.

In this paper, we report a facile Stöber-like method to prepare the ultra-dispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles (3–8 nm) on the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheet by using Iron (III) acetylacetonate (Fe(acac)3) as the iron precursor. This strategy provides a facile and environmentally friendly method for the large-scale synthesis of Fe3O4/RGO without any additional reductants and organic surfactants. The prepared hybrid materials are used as the Photo-Fenton catalyst to display a high and stable performance for the recyclable degradation of methyl orange pollutant, owing to the high conversion efficiency of Fe3+/Fe2+ and the magnetic property of Fe3O4. Furthermore, the hybrids also show superior lithium storage performance with large reversible capacity, excellent cyclic performance (624 mAh g−1 for up to 50 charge/discharge cycles at a current density of 0.1 A g−1), and good rate capability (624 and 415 mAh g−1 at 0.1 and 2.4 A g−1, respectively) as an anode material, owing to its superior electrical conductivity, high surface area, excellent electrode homogeneity and dispersity. We believe that the involved Stöber-like pre-treatment method can be further extended to prepare various metal oxides/graphene composites with promising applications across a broad range of catalysis, sensors, supercapacitors, and batteries.

A simple and facile Stöber-like method is used to prepare the ultradispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles (3–8 nm) on the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheet. The prepared Fe3O4/RGO composites not only possess ultrathin graphene (≤4 layers) and a high surface area of ∼199.8 m2 g−1, but also exhibit superior and stable Photo-Fenton activity, and very excellent reversible lithium storage capacity.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide