Polyaniline layered N-doped carbon-coated iron oxide nanocapsules for extremely active Li-ion battery anode and oxygen evolution reaction

We report the effective synthesis of polyaniline (PANi)-layered nitrogen-doped carbon-coated Fe₃O₄ (FNC@PANi) nanocapsules (NCs) for electrocatalysis of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) as well as anode material for lithium (Li)-ion batteries (LIBs) via a simple hydrothermal method and oxidative polymerization technique. The prepared FNC@PANi NCs revealed a dual core-shell structure, in which an intermediate carbon layer allowed excellent electrical conduction between the Fe₃O₄ NCs and PANi. The dual core-shell structure also allowed the Fe₃O₄ NCs to expand freely during the Li-ion insertion/extraction and OER processes without breaking the outer layer, thus providing a high surface area (147.85 m² g⁻¹) and enhanced electrical conductivity. These properties facilitate the application of the dual core-shell FNC@PANi NCs as an advanced electrode material for LIBs, delivering a high reversible specific capacity of 1556.48 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹, excellent rate performance (896.96 mAh g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹), and durable cycling life (680.12 mAh g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹ for 3000 cycles). The dual core-shell FNC@PANi NCs exhibited high electrocatalytic activity in the OER, with a small Tafel slope of 108.7 mV dec⁻¹ owing to synergistic effects between the copious active sites of the Fe₃O₄ NCs and the carbon core-shell structure and a modest overpotential of 219 mV at 10 mA cm⁻². The electrodes showed excellent stability over 10 h, as determined by chronopotentiometry at 10 mA cm⁻¹. The resultant dual-core-shell FNC@PANi NCs are efficient iron-oxide-based electrode materials for LIBs and OER electrocatalysts.