Porous TiO2 coated α-Fe2O3 ginger-like nanostructures with enhanced electrochemical properties

•Ginger-like nanostructures are fabricated by a two-step hydrothermal method.•The porous TiO2walls accommodate volume change during discharge/charge processes.•The ginger-like nanostructures exhibit greatly enhanced cycle stability.

Porous TiO2 coated α-Fe2O3 ginger-like nanostructures were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal and following calcination process without any surfactants or templates. As anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the as-obtained porous TiO2 coated α-Fe2O3 ginger-like nanostructures showed an initial reversible capacity of 576 mA h g−1 and the specific capacity remained 418 mA h g−1 after 150 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g−1. The enhanced lithium storage performance of the composites should be attributed to the dual lithium storage mechanism based on both lithium insertion into anatase TiO2 and lithium reduction/alloying reactions with α-Fe2O3, as well as the ginger-like porous nanostructures.