Facile Preparation of Magnetite-Incorporated Polyacrylonitrile-Derived Carbons for Li-Ion Battery Anodes

A facile preparation method for magnetite (Fe3O4)-incorporated polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-derived carbon composites was developed to overcome the limitations of graphite-based materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs), and the electrochemical performance of this material as an anode for LIBs was investigated. In this study, Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) with hydrophobic surfaces and graphitizable hydrophobic PAN formed through radical polymerization were uniformly distributed in an emulsion system, and subsequently, a partially graphitic carbon composite containing Fe3O4 NPs was obtained through simple oxidation and carbonization processes. The presence of Fe3O4 NPs contributed to a slight increase in the graphitization efficiency of PAN, as well as the additional uptake of lithium ions in LIBs. As a result, when the developed composite was applied as an anode for LIBs, they exhibited increased specific capacities and stable cycle performance over more than 100 cycles. In particular, it was confirmed that the rate capability of the composite was significantly higher than that of commercial graphite. The results indicate that the developed composite is promising for applications in advanced LIBs that are specialized for high-power devices.