A novel composite with highly dispersed Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals on ordered mesoporous carbon as an anode for lithium ion batteries

A nano-structured composite with Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals highly dispersed on ordered mesoporous carbon (here, CMK-3) is successfully synthesized by a facile wet impregnation method, and its lithium storage properties are investigated as anode material in this work. The uniform loading of Fe₃O₄ crystals in size around 10 nm are well distributed on the ordered mesoporous carbon host, as characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The composite Fe₃O₄@CMK-3 exhibits a large reversible capacity and good cycle stability with a retention value of 910 mA h g^-1 at a current density of 200 mA g^-1 over 50 cycles, as well as a capacity of 670 mA h g^-1 even up to 100 cycles at 1000 mA g^-1. The fascinating electrochemical performance may originate from the unique architecture for the fine Fe₃O ₄ nanocrystals together with the interconnected carbon conducting network.