Neuron-Inspired Fe₃O₄/Conductive Carbon Filament Network for High-Speed and Stable Lithium Storage

Construction of a continuous conductance network with high electron-transfer rate is extremely important for high-performance energy storage. Owing to the highly efficient mass transport and information transmission, neurons are exactly a perfect model for electron transport, inspiring us to design a neuron-like reaction network for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with Fe₃O₄ as an example. The reactive cores (Fe₃O₄) are protected by carbon shells and linked by carbon filaments, constituting an integrated conductance network. Thus, once the reaction starts, the electrons released from every Fe₃O₄ cores are capable of being transferred rapidly through the whole network directly to the external circuit, endowing the nanocomposite with tremendous rate performance and ultralong cycle life. After 1000 cycles at current densities as high as 1 and 2 A g^-1, charge capacities of the as-synthesized nanocomposite maintain 971 and 715 mA h g^-1, respectively, much higher than those of reported Fe₃O₄-based anode materials. The Fe₃O₄-based conductive network provides a new idea for future developments of high-rate-performance LIBs.