Preparation of Silicon-Antimony based Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

I n this study, SixSb immiscible composite blend as anode materials have been synthesized using micron-sized silicone and antimony particles in different compositions through chemical reduction-mechanical alloying method CR-MA . The obtained microstructures have been investigated by X-ray diffraction XRD and Scanning Electron Microscopy SEM with Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis EDX . Spectroscopic characterizations of the composite materials showed that a traditional intermetallic compound could not be achieved. However a novel immiscible composite blend system have been developed. One of the newly prepared composite materials, Si0.65Sb, exhibits an initial capacity of 790 mAh g-1 and a good cyclic stability compared to the pure silicone. The battery performance results of the micron-sized Si0.65Sb blend system have been compared with the commercially used graphite and the nano-sized Si/Sb alloy systems. The cycling stability of the micron-sized Si0.65Sb blend system showed an improvement compared to nano-sized Si/Sb alloy systems. Moreover its specific capacity is slightly higher than the commercial graphite anode material. These results portray the importance of micron sized Si/Sb system in large-scale applications due to its low cost.

Keywords

• silicon-antimony based materials
• negative electrode
• li-ion battery