Faceted Antimony Particles with Interiors Reinforced with Reduced Graphene Oxide as High-Performance Anode Material for Sodium-Ion Batteries.

The attainment of "true reinforcement" in a composite and harnessing of the associated beneficial effects have been demonstrated here through the development of faceted crystalline Sb particles having the interiors reinforced with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Such a unique and "near-ideal" micro/nanocomposite architecture has been achieved via a facile/cost-effective route by facilitating heterogeneous nucleation/growth of Sb-oxide particles on/around dispersed rGO sheets upon incorporation of the same directly into the precursor suspension, followed by the reduction of Sb-oxide to Sb, in intimate contact with the rGO, during the subsequent single heat-treatment step. As a potential anode material for Na-ion batteries, the as-developed Sb/rGO composite exhibits a reversible Na-storage capacity of ∼550 mAh/g (@ 0.2 A/g) and a fairly high first cycle Coulombic efficiency (CE) of ∼79%, with the good reversibility being attributed to the coarse particle size of Sb and encompassing of rGO sheets inside the Sb particles. Furthermore, despite the coarse particle size, the Sb/rGO-based electrode exhibits outstanding cyclic stability, with negligible capacity fade up to 150 cycles (viz., ∼97% capacity retention), and rate capability, with >86% capacity being obtained upon raising the current density from 0.1 to 2 A/g, resulting in a capacity of ∼490 mAh/g, even at 2 A/g.