Fe₂O₃nanoparticles anchored on thermally oxidized MWCNTs as anode material for lithium-ion battery

Thermally oxidized MWCNTs (OMWCNTs) are fabricated by a thermal treatment of MWCNTs at 500 °C for 3 h in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. The oxygen content of OMWCNTs increases from 1.9 wt% for MWCNTs to 8.3 wt%. And the BET specific surface area of OMWCNTs enhances from 254.2 m²g^-1for MWCNTs to 496.1 m²g^-1. The Fe₂O₃/OMWCNTs nanocomposite is prepared by a hydrothermal method. Electrochemical measurements show that Fe₂O₃/OMWCNTs still keeps a highly reversible specific capacity of 653.6 mA h g^-1after 200 cycles at 0.5 A g^-1, which shows an obviously higher capacity than the sum of that of single Fe₂O₃and OMWCNTs. The OMWCNTs not only buffer the volume changes of Fe₂O₃nanoparticles but also provide high-speed electronic transmission channels in the charge-discharge process. The thermal oxidation method of OMWCNTs avoids using strong corrosive acids such as nitric acid and sulfuric acid, which has the advantages of safety, environmental protection, macroscopic preparation, etc.