Two-step oxidation of bulk Sb to one-dimensional Sb2O4 submicron-tubes as advanced anode materials for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries

Alloying-type Sb material has been considered as an excellent anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the limitation of capacity is still a challenge urging to be solved. Thus, it will be extremely meaningful to exploit novel antimony oxides (Sb 2 O 4 ) as high-capacity anode material for both LIBs and SIBs . In this work, one-dimensional tube-like Sb 2 O 4 submicron-structures are fabricated by a two-step oxidation route, and their lithium and sodium storage behaviors are investigated to be conversion-alloying-type. When evaluated as an anode material with lithium as the counter electrode, the Sb 2 O 4 submicron-structures deliver a discharge capacity of 700   mAh   g −1 after 50 cycles at a current density of 100   mA   g −1 , which is higher than the alloying-type Sb anode materials with a theoretical capacity of 660   mAh   g −1 . Even at a high current density of 1000   mA   g −1 , the substantial discharge capacity can still reach 415   mAh   g −1 after 100 repeated cycles. In addition, as for SIBs , the tube-like Sb 2 O 4 submicron-structures can maintain a discharge capacity of 381.9   mAh   g −1 after 100 cycles at 100   mA   g −1 , higher than the reported results at this field. Such excellent cycling stability and rate capability of the designed Sb 2 O 4 submicron-structure can be attributed to the morphology and structure.