Antimony Sulphide As an Anode Material for Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries

Abstract

Antimony sulphide (Sb2S3) has been chosen as promising electrode material for lithium and sodium ion batteries due to the high theoretical capacity. In this study, we report on the lithium and sodium electrochemical behaviors of Sb2S3 anode materials with different sizes and morphologies obtained from various routes. Four different types of Sb2S3 samples are evaluated : two commercially obtained bulk crystalline Sb2S3 powders and homemade Sb2S3 powders prepared via mechanical ball milling and hydrothermal technique. For Li-ion batteries, even bulk Sb2S3 shows decent cycling stability and high capacity (more than 500 mAh/g up to 100 cycles) when a proper additive is used. On the other hand, for Na-ion batteries, bulk Sb2S3 results in very poor cycling performance (~ 50 mAh/g at 50 cycles) and rate capability, so that the morphological modification is required to employ as an electrode. The binder and electrolyte additives are proven to be important for both Li- and Na ion batteries. Especially for Na-ion battery, the proper combination of binder and additive is critical to sustain capacity with cycling.