Interconnected α-Fe2O3 nanosheet arrays as high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

The electrode materials with structure stability and binder-free are urgently required for improving the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion batteries. In this work, interconnected α-Fe2O3 nanosheet arrays directly grown on Ti foil were fabricated via a facile galvanostatic electrodeposition method followed by thermal treatment. The as-prepared α-Fe2O3 has an open network structure constituted of interconnected nanosheets and can be directly used as integrated electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. The α-Fe2O3 nanosheet arrays exhibit a high reversible capacity of 986.3 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1. Moreover, a reversible capacity of ca. 425.9 mAh g−1 is achieved even at a superhigh current density of 10 A g−1, which is higher than the theoretical capacity of commercially used graphite. The excellent performance could be attributed to the efficient electron transport, the large electrode/electrolyte interfaces and the good accommodations for volume expansion from the interconnected nanosheet arrays structure.