Facile synthesis of FeCO3/nitrogen-doped carbon dot composites for lithium-ion battery anodes

FeCO 3 has attracted increasing attention as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high capacity, abundance and low cost. However, the poor electronic conductivity and slow ion diffusion dynamics of FeCO 3 limit its rate performance. To address this issue, a FeCO 3 /nitrogen-doped carbon dot (FeCO 3 /N-CD) composite applied in LIBs is developed by a facile one-step hydrothermal method . It is found that the introduction of N-CD effectively inhibits the crystal growth and stacking of FeCO 3 , leading to the formation of a unique nanorod composite with hierarchical porous structure. Benefiting from the rational structure, the as-prepared FeCO 3 /N-CD composite shows significantly improved electrochemical performances when used as anode materials of LIBs. For example, a stable reversible capacity of 872 mA h g −1 after 460 cycles at a current density of 200 mA g −1 can be achieved, which is much higher than that of the pristine FeCO 3 . This study provides an efficient route to prepare advanced FeCO 3 -based composites for anode materials in high-performance LIBs.