Facile synthesis of α-Fe₂O₃ nanorods derived from α- FeOOH nanorods and its application as anode materials for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries

α-Fe₂O₃ nanorods have been successfully obtained by annealing α-FeOOH precursor nanorods synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The electrochemical performance of the as-prepared α-Fe₂O₃ nanorods as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries is tested using galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling. The result indicates that the pesudocapacitor effect dominates the charge/discharge process. The α-Fe₂O₃ synthesized at different temperature indicates that α-Fe₂O₃ with a high crystallinity manifests relatively better cycling performance with a capacity of 177 mAh g-1 after 20 cycles at current density of 200 rnA g^-1. While the current density increases to 500 mA g-1, the corresponding discharge capacity can still remain as much as 132 mAh·g^-1. Meanwhile, XPS spectrum results of the active electrode material asprepared and after a discharge process disclose that the electrochemical reaction mechanism happens in the half-cell sodium ion battery is the reduction of Fe₂O ₃ to Fe.