Controllable Synthesis of Iron Sulfide/CNT Nanocomposites in Solvothermal System

Iron sulfide (FeS2 and Fe7S8) has been considered as one of the promising electrode materials in the field of solar cell and lithium ion battery owing to their unique properties. Herein a facile solvothermal method is reported for preparing iron sulfide/carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposites with desired structure and composition. FeS2 nanoparticles can be successfully loaded on the surface of CNT, and the FeS2 nanoparticles uniformly distribute along the CNT. With the assistance of polyvinylpyrrolidinone (PVP), flower-like Fe7S8@CNT precursor and flower-like Fe7S8 precursor can be obtained, respectively. When the flower-like precursors are annealed in the tube furnace with Ar atmosphere, the diameter of the samples decrease from micron level (approximate to 1 mu m) to submicron-level (200-400 nm).