Effect of Fe2O3 Morphology on the Electrochemical Properties of Fe2O3/C Composite Electrode as Fe-Air Battery Anode

In order to identify the most suitable material for the Fe/air battery anode, two kinds of material, highly relative homogeneous Fe2O3 microparticles with mainly rhombohedral and polyhedral-like shapes and grain size of 1-10 mu m were used as negative materials in Fe/air batteries. The effects of shape, morphology and particle size of alpha-Fe2O3 on the electrochemical properties of both materials were investigated with the use of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) along with X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic cycling performance. The results revealed that the prepared alpha-Fe2O3 microparticles provided the better cyclability than commercial one and the rhombohedrallike Fe2O3 delivered higher capacity than polyhedral like one. The prepared alpha-Fe2O3 with mainly rhombohedral-like shape is a promising material for the Fe/air-battery anode.