Size‐Controlled Hollow Spheres of C/α‐Fe 2 O 3 Prepared through the Quasiemulsion‐Templated Method and Their Electrochemical Properties for Lithium‐Ion Storage

In this paper, α‐Fe 2 O 3 hollow spheres in different sizes were successfully synthesized through a glycerol emulsion template method for use as efficient electrode materials in lithium‐ion batteries. The sizes of α‐Fe 2 O 3 hollow sphere could be easily controlled by adjusting the amount of glycerol over the Fe precursor during the hydrothermal synthesis process. A thin carbon layer was subsequently coated on the surface of α‐Fe 2 O 3 hollow spheres through hydrothermal treatment with glucose for the carbonization process, in which the carbon phases could serve as a conductive layer for the efficient charge transfer, but also as a buffer layer for the accommodation of volume vibration of the electrode material during cycling. The carbon‐coated α‐Fe 2 O 3 hollow sphere electrode showed a high discharge capacity of approximately 1452 mAh g −1 with a capacity increase of at least 32 % compared to that of α‐Fe 2 O 3 hollow spheres without the carbon coating at the 50 th cycle. The stability and cycling performance were also significantly improved by the presence of the carbon layer, indicating that the C/α‐Fe 2 O 3 hollow sphere could be a promising metal‐oxide anode material for lithium‐ion batteries.