Facile Preparation of Interlocked Fe₂O₃/MOF Composite for Boosted Rate and Cycle Performance of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) is emerging as a potential anode alternative for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the merits of high specific capacity, environmental friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. However, trapped by unsatisfactory cycling stability and rate capability, further modification is needed for Fe₂O₃ to achieve practical requirements. In this study, a Fe₂O₃-based composite anode (namely Fe₂O₃@HA-Fe-BPDC) with interlocked structure was designed and synthesized for pursuing enhanced electrochemical properties. Benefiting from the porous structure, abundant active sites, and good tolerance to volume expansion, the as-prepared electrode exhibits significantly boosted rate capability, excellent specific capacity, and satisfactory reversibility. Typically, the Fe₂O₃@HA-Fe-BPDC anode provided an excellent specific capacity of 708 mAh g^–1 at 0.1 A g^–1 and remained at a high level of 332 mAh g^–1 at 1 A g^–1, delivering significantly improved rate performance than Fe₂O₃. Additionally, outstanding capacity retention (95.4%) was achieved at 1 A g^–1 after 600 charge/discharge cycles. The strategy based on the facile coprecipitation for fabricating Fe₂O₃ and MOF composite electrodes provides a feasible technique to develop a high-performance anode for LIBs.