Improved Rate and Cycling Performances of Electrodes Based on BiFeO₃ Nanoflakes by Compositing with Organic Pectin for Advanced Rechargeable Na-Ion Batteries

Advanced rechargeable Na-ion battery is favored by researchers owing to its relatively low-priced and earth-abundant resource. In this work, BiFeO₃ nanoflakes by compositing with organic pectin as an outstanding anode material for rechargeable Na-ion batteries were fabricated by an improved hydrothermal process for the first time. We found that the BiFeO₃/pectin nanoflakes as anode hold long life and excellent charge-discharge performance with reversible capacity of 450 mAh g^-1, which can retain 100% capacity after 100 charge-discharge cycles. It is inferred that the excellent performance of Na-ion batteries is contributed to viscoelastic pectin among BiFeO₃ crystal lattices. The organic pectin can play a buffer role in the process of BiFeO₃ crystal lattices expansion when Na ions inserted, indicating the BiFeO₃/pectin nanoflakes are not easily degenerated as anode in Na-ion battery. This work provides great potential for fabricating low-priced and high power density Na-ion batteries for electronic equipment applications.