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Fe2O3 is an appealing anode material due to its high specific capacity (1007 mAh g− 1), low cost, natural abundance, and nontoxicity. However, its unstable structure during cycling processes has hindered its potential. In this study, we present a “green” synthesis method to fabricate stable porous Fe2O3 encapsulated in a buffering hollow structure (p-Fe2O3@h-TiO2) as an effective anode material for Li-ion batteries. The synthesis process only involves glucose as an “etching” agent, without the need for organic solvents or difficult-to-control environments. Characterizations of the nanostructures, chemical compositions, crystallizations, and thermal behaviors for the intermediate/final products confirm the formation of p-Fe2O3@h-TiO2. The synthesized Fe2O3 anode material effectively accommodates volume change, decreases pulverization, and alleviates agglomeration, leading to a high capacity that is over eleven times greater than that of the as-received commercial Fe2O3 after a long cycling process. This work provides an attractive, “green” and efficient method to convert commercially abundant resources like Fe2O3 into effective electrode materials for energy storage systems. 

With plenty of charges and rich functional groups, bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein provides effective transport for multiple metallic ions inside blood vessels. Inspired by the unique ionic transport function, we develop a BSA protein coating to stabilize Li anode, regulate Li+ transport, and resolve the Li dendrite growth for Li metal batteries (LMBs). The experimental and simulation studies demonstrate that the coating has strong interactions with Li metal, increases the wetting with electrolyte, reduces the electrolyte/Li side reactions, and significantly suppresses the Li dendrite formation. As a result, the BSA coating exhibits excellent stability in the electrolyte and improves the performance of Li|Cu and Li|Li cells as well as the LiFePO4|Li batteries. This work reveals that LMBs can benefit from the biological function of BSA, i.e., special transport capability of metallic ions, and lays an important foundation in design of protein-based materials for effectively enhancing the electrochemical performance of energy storage systems.