Strategy to Synthesize Fe₃O₄/C Nanotubes as Anode Material for Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries

Highlights: • A electrospinning route for one-step synthesis of Fe₃O₄/C nanotubes. • The formation mechanism of Fe₃O₄/C nanotubes fabricated by electrospinning is discussed. • The composite exhibits an unexpected cycling stability with capacity 600 mA h g⁻¹ after 100 cycles at 0.15 C. - Abstract: A facile electrospinning route for one-step synthesis of Fe₃O₄/C nanotubes has been developed depending on the separation of mineral oil and polyacrylonitrile in N, N-dimethylformamide solvent followed by stabilization and carbonization. The obtained Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with diameter 10 to 100 nm were uniformly embedded into highly conductive carbon nanotube wall. The carbon combined conducting, buffering and confining effects during electrochemical cycling. In addition, the hollow tubular structure with more space can accommodate large volume changes of Fe₃O₄ associated with Li ions insertion/extraction, and increase the surface area accessible to the electrolyte, facilitating the Li ions diffusion at the interior and exterior of the nanotube. The half cells based on Fe₃O₄/C nanotubes exhibit an unexpected cycling stability with capacity of 600 mA h g⁻¹ after 100 cycles. These results are encouraging for the development of Fe₃O₄/C nanotubes as potential building blocks for high-performance anodes in LIBs