Facile synthesis of Fe3S4 hollow spheres with high-performance for lithium-ion batteries and water treatment

Abstract

Hollow metal chalcogenides have attracted increasing attention in recent years owing to their widespread applications. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effective synthesis of a uniform Fe₃S₄ hollow nanostructure for fundamental research and practical application has not been reported to date. In this paper, a facile method for preparing nanostructured Fe₃S₄ with controlled hollow spheres was developed. The as-prepared Fe₃S₄ shows ferromagnetic characteristic and porous nature. Their Li ion storage and water treatment performances are further tested. Such mesoporous hollow spheres exhibit a highly reversible capacity of 750 mA h g⁻¹ over 100 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹. In addition, when used as an adsorbent, the Fe₃S₄ exhibited high adsorption capability and the adsorption isotherms are subject to the Freundlich equation. This work not only presents a facile strategy for the synthesis of novel Fe₃S₄ hollow spheres but also supplies a promising advanced material for lithium-ion batteries and water treatment.