Fe3O4@C Nanotubes Grown on Carbon Fabric as a Free‐Standing Anode for High Performance Li‐Ion Batteries

Recently, Li-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted extensive attention due to their wide application in portable and flexible electronic devices, and such huge market of LIBs causes an ever-increase demand of excellent mechanical flexibility, outstanding cycling life and superior rate capability electrodes. Herein, an anode of self-supported Fe3O4@C nanotubes grown on carbon fabric cloth (CFC) is rationally designed via an in-situ etching and deposition route, combined with an annealing process. These carbon-coated nanotube structured Fe3O4 arrays with large surface area and enough void space, can not only moderate the volume variation during the repeated Li + insertion/extraction, but also facilitate Li + /electrons transportation and electrolyte penetration. Such a novel structure design endows Fe3O4@C nanotube arrays stable cycle performance (a large reversible capacity of 900 mA h g -1 up to 100 cycles at 0.5 A g -1 ) and outstanding rate capability (a reversible capacity of 1030, 985, 908, and 755 mA h g -1 at 0.15, 0.3, 0.75, and 1.5 A g -1 , respectively). Fe3O4@C nanotube arrays still achieve a capacity of 665 mA h g -1 after 50 cycles at 0.1 A g -1 in Fe3O4 @C//LiCoO2 full cells.