Controlled synthesis and characterization of iron oxide micro-particles for Fe-air battery electrode material

摘要

In this research, novel homogeneous iron (Fe) oxide particles with the pure alpha-Fe2O3 structure are successfully synthesized with controlling and shaping via a modified polyol method with NaBH4 as an efficient reducing agent according to drying and heat treatment processes. In the critical synthetic and experimental conditions, large alpha-Fe2O3 particles exhibited homogeneously large sizes in the certain ranges of 1-5 mu m and 1-10 mu m, which are regarded as a discovery of controlled and shaped synthesis. The electrochemical measurements indicated that oxide powders containing as-prepared pure alpha-Fe2O3 microparticles were successfully used in the electrodes. Accordingly, the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic cycling measurements indicated their potential applications for next-generation Fe-air battery technology in comparison with commercial oxide products of Fe2O3 particles. Finally, we suggest that the sharp polyhedral shape and morphology of the engineered micro-particles, such as metal, alloy, and oxide micro-particles, are of importance because they have very high stability and durability with respect to their applied properties.