In-situ synthesis of Fe7S8 nanocrystals decorated on N, S-codoped carbon nanotubes as anode material for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Fe7S8 has emerged as an attractive anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its outstanding features such as low cost, high theoretical capacity, as well as environmental benignity. However, the rapid capacity fading derived from the tremendous volume change during the charging/discharging process hinders its practical application. Nanostructure engineering and the combination with carbonaceous material are essential to address this issue. In this work, Fe7S8 nanocrystals decorated on N, S-codoped carbon nanotubes (Fe7S8-NSC) were synthesized through a facile one-step pyrolysis of Fe-containing polypyrrole (PPy) nanotubes with sulphur powders under nitrogen atmosphere. When evaluated as anode of LIBs, Fe7S8-NSC demonstrates excellent cycling stability (718.8 mAh g-1 at 100 mA g-1 after 100 cycles) and superior rate ability (290.8 mAh g-1 at 2000 mA g-1). Moreover, Fe7S8-NSC shows a typical specific capacity recovery phenomenon, an extraordinary capacity of 744.4 mAh g-1 at 2000 mA g-1 after 1000 cycles can be achieved, which outperforms most of the Fe7S8-based anode materials reported before. The Fe7S8-NSC should be a promising anode material for high-performance LIBs.