AUTHOR=Mahmood Asif , Ali Zeeshan , Tabassum Hassina , Akram Aftab , Aftab Waseem , Ali Rashad , Khan Muhammad Waqas , Loomba Suraj , Alluqmani Ahmed , Adil Riaz Muhammad , Yousaf Muhammad , Mahmood Nasir 

TITLE=Carbon Fibers Embedded With Iron Selenide (Fe3Se4) as Anode for High-Performance Sodium and Potassium Ion Batteries

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2020.00408

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2020.00408

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>The development of sodium and potassium ion batteries (SIBs/KIBs) has seen tremendous growth in recent years due to their promising properties as a potential replacement for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Here, we report ultrafine iron selenide (Fe<sub>3</sub>Se<sub>4</sub>) nanoparticles embedded into one-dimensional (1D) carbon fibers (Fe<sub>3</sub>Se<sub>4</sub>@CFs) as a potential candidate for SIBs/KIBs. The Fe-based metal-organic framework particles (MOFP) are used as a Fe source to obtain highly dispersed Fe<sub>3</sub>Se<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles in the product. The Fe<sub>3</sub>Se<sub>4</sub>@CF consisted of ultrafine particles of Fe<sub>3</sub>Se<sub>4</sub> with an average particle size of ~10 nm loaded into CFs with an average diameter of 300 nm. The product exhibited excellent specific activity of ~439 and ~435 mAh/g at the current density of 50 mA/g for SIBs and KIBs, respectively. In addition, the as-prepared anodes (Fe<sub>3</sub>Se<sub>4</sub>@CFs) exhibited excellent capacity retention up to several hundred cycles (700 cycles for SIBs and 300 cycles for KIBs). The high activity and excellent stability of the developed electrodes make Fe<sub>3</sub>Se<sub>4</sub>@CFs a promising electrode for next-generation batteries.</p>