Chemistry and electrochemistry of nanostructured iron oxyhydroxides as lithium intercalation compounds for energy storage

The theoretical specific capacity of these materials is as high as 300 mA h g−1 which is actually very interesting for lithium batteries applications. However, the electrochemical behaviour greatly depends on the structure of the compounds. A phase transformation was, for example, evidenced in the case of γ-FeOOH first lithiation whereas the best performance were obtained with β-FeOOH, which develops a stable capacity of 180 mA h g−1, after 10 cycles, at C/10.