Porous carbon derived from cherry blossom leaves treatment with Fe₃O₄ enhanced the electrochemical performance of a lithium storage anode

Metal oxides have been proposed as promising anode materials for next-generation batteries, but the large volume changes and poor electron and ion conductivity limit their electrochemical performance. To mitigate the negative effects of volume expansion on battery performance, a flower-like Fe₃O₄ structure coated with carbon is studied via one step wet chemical method. The Fe₃O₄ particles are uniformly distributed in highly porous carbon derived from cherry blossom leaves, resulting in a larger specific area and higher conductivity for the Fe3O4@C anode. In this hybrid Fe3O4@C nanocomposite, the ultrafine carbon coating effectively reduces volume expansion while providing excellent electrochemical performance. The flower-like Fe₃O₄@C electrodes demonstrate a specific capacity of approximately 1110 mAh g^–1 at a current density of 1.0 A g^–1. Moreover, the composite material Fe₃O₄@C exhibits a specific capacity of 848.1 mAh g^–1 at a high current density of 2.0 A g^–1 over 1000 cycles. These results indicate that the hybrid composition Fe₃O₄@C possesses excellent electrochemical properties, and suggest that this strategy could be applied to other hybrid materials for energy harvesting and storage.