Electrospinning fabrication of Sb-SnSb/TiO2@CNFs composite nanofibers as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

The SnSb and TiO 2 nanoparticles uniformly embedded into continuous and conductive carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are successfully fabricated through facile electrospinning combined with calcination treatments. The characterization results of the targeted composite nanofibers (Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2) confirm that the presence of TiO 2 is of significant importance to construct the elaborately designed and intact fiber structure, in which the optimal dosage of the TiO 2 precursor is precisely controlled at 2 mmol. Moreover, high theoretical specific capacity of SnSb, available inhibitory effect of TiO 2 , and great electronic conductivity of CNFs are cooperatively integrated into the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 composite nanofibers, guaranteeing the enhanced lithium storage capacity and cycling performance when being employed as the anode electrodes. Specifically, the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 electrode can not only deliver initial discharge specific capacity of 1146.6 mAh/g at 100 mA/g and reversible discharge specific capacity of 580.4 mAh/g after 100 cycles, but also retain discharge specific capacity of 561.3 mAh/g after rate cycles along with recovering the current density to 100 mA/g. Importantly, the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 electrode is also endowed with prominent advantages in the pseudocapacitive contribution of 66.89 % at 0.8 mV/s. Those investigations and findings of the Sb-SnSb/TiO 2 @CNFs-2 composite electrodes with facile fabrication process and excellent electrochemical performance can contribute to the practical application of the alloy anodes in the field of the energy storage.