Bottom‐Up Confined Synthesis of Nanorod‐in‐Nanotube Structured Sb@N‐C for Durable Lithium and Sodium Storage

Abstract

Antimony (Sb) has emerged as an attractive anode material for both lithium and sodium ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity of 660 mA h g−1. In this work, a novel peapod‐like N‐doped carbon hollow nanotube encapsulated Sb nanorod composite, the so‐called nanorod‐in‐nanotube structured Sb@N‐C, via a bottom‐up confinement approach is designed and fabricated. The N‐doped‐carbon coating and thermal‐reduction process is monitored by in situ high‐temperature X‐ray diffraction characterization. Due to its advanced structural merits, such as sufficient N‐doping, 1D conductive carbon coating, and substantial inner void space, the Sb@N‐C demonstrates superior lithium/sodium storage performance. For lithium storage, the Sb@N‐C exhibits a high reversible capacity (650.8 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1), excellent long‐term cycling stability (a capacity decay of only 0.022% per cycle for 3000 cycles at 2 A g−1), and ultrahigh rate capability (343.3 mA h g−1 at 20 A g−1). For sodium storage, the Sb@N‐C nanocomposite displays the best long‐term cycle performance among the reported Sb‐based anode materials (a capacity of 345.6 mA h g−1 after 3000 cycles at 2 A g−1) and an impressive rate capability of up to 10 A g−1. The results demonstrate that the Sb@N‐C nanocomposite is a promising anode material for high‐performance lithium/sodium storage.

Polyanions Enhance Conversion Reactions for Lithium/Sodium‐Ion Batteries: The Case of SbVO4 Nanoparticles on Reduced Graphene Oxide

“…For instance, SiO 2 /Sb@carbon nanofibers, i.e., SiO 2 enforced porous carbon nanofibers containing Sb nanoparticles, delivered a specific capacity of 520 mAh g −1 at 2.0 A g −1 . Sb nanorods in peapod‐structured N‐doped carbon nanotubes presented a reversible capacity of 427 mAh g −1 at 5.0 A g −1 . Hollow Sb@C yolk–shell nanospheres exhibited a specific capacity of 385 mAh g −1 at 2.0 A g −1 .…”

Recent Progress in Advanced Characterization Methods for Silicon‐Based Lithium‐Ion Batteries

“…It can gather general information on the bulk phase of materials and is not restricted to thin film samples. Moreover, in situ XRD has access to detailed bulk phase transformations in real batteries with liquid or volatile electrolytes and can detect the in situ formation of crystallographic phases under high‐temperature conditions . In situ XRD has therefore been widely used to characterize the phase changes in LIBs during cycling.…”

Carbon‐Based Alloy‐Type Composite Anode Materials toward Sodium‐Ion Batteries

“…The thickness of the carbon coating is slightly reduced compared to the original polypyrrole (PPy) layer (15 nm) due to the shrinkage of the polymer while heating. When tested as an anode for SIBs, the Sb@N–C nanocomposite displays the best capacity of 345.6 mAh g −1 after 3000 cycles at 2 A g −1 and an impressive rate capability of up to 10 A g −1 …”