Hollow Fe-containing carbon fibers with tubular tertiary structure: preparation and Li-storage properties

Hollow carbon fibers with a defined tubular cross-section were obtained by simply heating poly(styrene) in the presence of iron salts. The structures possess a high content of mesoporosity and macroporosity. The carbon itself is characterized by a well-developed sp2-graphene structure. When used as anode material in lithium ion batteries, a remarkably high reversible capacity as high as 860 mAh/g was observed, which is attributed to both the morphology of the carbon and the incorporation of iron species.