Three-dimensional porous flower-like S-doped Fe2O3 for superior lithium storage

Traditional Fe-based oxide with poor intrinsic conductivity, severe volume expansion, and structure destruction exhibits the poor cyclic performance for anode materials of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Heteroatomic doping Fe-based oxide with nanoarchitectures is deemed to settle the above problems effectively. Herein, with sulfur (S) doping, three-dimensional porous flower-like Fe 2 O 3 (denoted as S- Fe 2 O 3 ) prepared via ordinary solvothermal reaction and calcining process was ingeniously designed as anode materials for LIBs. The S doping changed the morphology, improved the electrical conductivity, and provided more active sites for lithium storage. The flower-like S-Fe 2 O 3 made up of plentiful carbon encapsulated nanoparticles not only relieved the volume expansion but also provided the connected conductive network. The as-prepared flower-like S-Fe 2 O 3 electrode delivered a high discharge/charge capacity (1570.8 mAh g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 after 100 cycles) and the excellent long-cycle performance (521.3 mAh g −1 at 2.0 A g −1 after 1000 cycles). S doping and nanoarchitectures engineering in this work provide rational preparation strategies for composites containing transition metal oxides toward energy storage system. Graphical abstract Three-dimensional porous flower-like S-Fe 2 O 3 from ordinary solvothermal reaction and calcining process is ingeniously designed as anode materials for LIBs.