A sustainable approach for scalable production of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals with 3D interconnected porous architectures on flexible carbon textiles as integrated electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Herein, we demonstrate a sustainable strategy for scalable production of α -Fe 2 O 3 nanocrystals on flexible carbon textiles via controllable chemical bath deposition process. The assembly of α -Fe 2 O 3 nanocrystals is densely anchored onto the carbon textiles, and the temperature-dependent mass loading and crystal size of α -Fe 2 O 3 are systematically investigated. As an integrated electrode for lithium-ion batteries, the optimized Fe 2 O 3 @CTs with ultrathin three-dimensional interconnected porous architectures achieves significantly enhanced cycling performance and rate capability attributing to the improved stability, electronic interconnection, and shortened solid state diffusion pathway for Li + ions/electrons. After the reactivation of the precursor, the Li-ion batteries based on the recycled Fe 2 O 3 @CTs exhibits electrochemical performance with no decay compared to that of the devices based on the fresh products. This sustainable methodology, considering material abundance, eco-efficiency, synthetic approach and scalability, is of crucial importance to both academy and industry for achieving high-performance lithium-ion batteries.