Facile assembly and electrochemical properties of α-Fe2O3@graphene aerogel composites as electrode materials for lithium ion batteries

Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) α -Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticle anchored graphene aerogel (Fe 2 O 3 @GA) composites were assembled by a hydrothermal method using Fe(OH) 3 colloids and graphene oxides as starting materials. It was found that the Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles were uniformly embedded into the 3D networks of graphene aerogels and the resulting composites contained meso- and macro-scale pores. Remarkably, the composites possessed much higher surface area (S BET  = 212.5 m 2  g −1 ) and larger pore volume (V p  = 0.2073 cm 3  g −1 ) than those of pure Fe 2 O 3 (S BET  = 19.8 m 2  g −1 , V p  = 0.1770 cm 3  g −1 ). The Fe 2 O 3 @GA composites used as electrode materials for lithium ion batteries were demonstrated to exhibit high reversible capacity at large current densities and excellent cycling stabilities.