Carbon Coated Fe 3 O 4 Nanospindles as a Superior Anode Material for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract Carbon‐coated Fe 3 O 4 nanospindles are synthesized by partial reduction of monodispersed hematite nanospindles with carbon coatings, and investigated with scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and electrochemical experiments. The Fe 3 O 4 C nanospindles show high reversible capacity (∼745 mA h g −1 at C/5 and ∼600 mA h g −1 at C/2), high coulombic efficiency in the first cycle, as well as significantly enhanced cycling performance and high rate capability compared with bare hematite spindles and commercial magnetite particles. The improvements can be attributed to the uniform and continuous carbon coating layers, which have several functions, including:…