Antimony and antimony oxide@graphene oxide obtained by the peroxide route as anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Zero-valent antimony and antimony oxide were deposited on graphene oxide by the recently introduced peroxide deposition route. The antimony@graphene oxide (GO) anode exhibits a charging capacity of 340 mAh g^-1 with excellent stability at a current rate of 250 mA g^-1 after 50 cycles of lithiation, which is superior to all other forms of antimony anodes that have been reported thus far. The electrode also exhibits a good rate performance, with a capacity of 230 and 180 mAh g^-1 at a rate of 500 and 1000 mA g^-1, respectively. We attribute the superior performance of the antimony@GO anodes to our coating protocol, which provides a thin layer of nanometric antimony coating on the graphene oxide, and to a small amount of antimony oxide that is left in the anode material after heat treatment and imparts some flexibility. The efficient charge distribution by the large surface area of reduced GO and the expansion buffering of the elastic graphene sheets also contributed to the superior stability of the anode.