A collaborative strategy for encapsulating Sb nanoparticles into porous carbon toward high and stable sodium storage

Abstract

Antimony (Sb) based materials are considered to be promising materials for sodium (Na) storage due to their high theoretical capacity and appropriate operating voltage. However, the huge volume change during sodiation/desodiation leads to capacity decay rapidly and impedes the practical application. Herein, we embed Sb into the pores of biomass-derived porous carbon to prepare the novel hybrids (Sb@BDPC) through a simple liquid-phase reduction method to improve the cycle stability and specific capacity. The Sb@BDPC hybrids are prepared by Qamgur precursor, exhibiting abundant pore structures and three-dimensional interconnection networks. As anode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), the Sb@BDPC hybrids maintain a reversible capacity of 302.7 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 after 100 cycles, while 168.3 mAh g−1 of capacity remained after 500 cycles at 1 A g−1. Such excellent sodium storage performance is primarily attributed to the synergistic effect of porous carbon and Sb nanoparticles. Specifically, the stable structure with abundant pores of carbon not only provides a channel for fast transfer of charge carriers, but alleviates the volumetric expansion and aggregation of Sb during cycling. These results prove the performance advantages of the composites and provide a simple approach for making full use of disordered porous carbon and constructing Sb-based anode materials toward high and stable energy storage.