Fe₂N stabilized on reduced graphene oxide to enhance the performance of a lithium-ion battery composite anode

Fe₂N decorated on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was prepared by a hydrothermal reaction and the effect of nitridation time was studied concerning the lithium-ion battery (LIB) performance of Fe₂N/rGO composites. The reversible capacity of as-prepared electrodes was evaluated at currents starting from 0.05 A g^–1 and up to 2 A g^–1 with the highest capacity demonstrated by the Fe₂N/rGO sample subjected to a nitriding time of 2 h. Moreover, at 0.1 A g^–1 the specific capacity fading was observed to be merely 0.014% per cycle from 120 to 500 cycles. The CV studies demonstrated that good electrochemical performance was due to a smaller peak to peak separation and higher peak currents which agreed well with the lower mass and charge transfer resistance obtained from the EIS results. The conductive graphene network facilitated in Li⁺-ion diffusion process and fast charge transfer reactions while mesoporous Fe₂N helped in proper penetration of electrolyte and providing abundant sites for intercalation/deintercalation. The Fe₂N/rGO-2h electrode prepared in this work overcame the stability issues and large polarization of usual metal nitride electrodes making it a potential candidate for LIB anode.