Facile assembly and electrochemical properties of α-Fe2O3@graphene aerogel composites as electrode materials for lithium ion batteries

•3D α-Fe2O3@GA composites were prepared from Fe(OH)3 colloids and GO via a hydrothermal process.•The composites exhibited high surface area, abundant meso- and macro-scale pores.•The electrode for LIBs exhibited excellent electrochemical properties.

Three-dimensional (3D) α-Fe2O3 nanoparticle anchored graphene aerogel (Fe2O3@GA) composites were assembled by a hydrothermal method using Fe(OH)3 colloids and graphene oxides as starting materials. It was found that the Fe2O3 nanoparticles were uniformly embedded into the 3D networks of graphene aerogels and the resulting composites contained meso- and macro-scale pores. Remarkably, the composites possessed much higher surface area (SBET = 212.5 m2 g−1) and larger pore volume (Vp = 0.2073 cm3 g−1) than those of pure Fe2O3 (SBET = 19.8 m2 g−1, Vp = 0.1770 cm3 g−1). The Fe2O3@GA composites used as electrode materials for lithium ion batteries were demonstrated to exhibit high reversible capacity at large current densities and excellent cycling stabilities.

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