Sb@C/expanded graphite as high-performance anode material for lithium ion batteries

Metallic Sb attracts much attention as LIBs anode material due to its high capacity and safe insertion potential. However, the tremendous volume change resulting in poor cycle stability and quickly capacity fading during the charge/discharge process which limited the practical application. Herein, novel Sb@C/expand graphite (Sb@C/EG) composite is fabricated by a simple and scalable method. In this unique architecture, the nano-sized Sb are embedded in the expand graphite nanosheets deeply, which can effectively buffer the volume expansion of Sb nanoparticles during the repeated lithium insertion/extraction process. Moreover, expand graphite nanosheets have good conductivity which can increase the electrical conductivity of the Sb@C/EG electrode. Therefore, Sb@C/EG composite shows predominant cycling stability and rate capability, a high capacity of 486 mA h g(-1) after 600 cycles at 1.0 A g(-1) can be obtained, and a discharge capacity of 287 mA h g(-1) can be achieved even at 2.0 A g(-1). The improved cycling and rate performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect between the Sb nanoparticles and EG nanosheets. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.