It is known that size and shape are one of the important topics to be considered when to design electrodes for lithium ion batteries. Recently considerable attention has been paid to transitional metal oxide anodes, especially iron oxides due to their environmentally benign behavior and high theoretical capacities (>1000 mAh/g).

Therefore, in this work, 4 differently structured iron oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized via hydrothermal method, following the Taguchi experimental design. The effects of experimental parameters (precursor solution’s concentration, temperature and autoclave filling ratio) on the powder morphology have been examined by scanning electron microscopy analysis. Then, the structure of the powders have been characterized by X-ray diffraction method. And finally the electrochemical performances of these powders as anode material for lithium ion batteries have been done based on the galvanostatic test results (with 50mA/g rate, between 1mV-3V).

The results have shown that all samples performed higher initial discharge capacities than graphite. Whilst, all of them revealed low initial coulombic efficiencies, independent of their morphological and structural particularities. It is believed that although small size leads high contact area resulting improvement in the electrochemical performance of the electrode; the electronic conductivity of the sample should be improved to further ameliorate the electrode performance.