LAUSR

Abstract Herein, a very simple and cost-effective solid state reaction method is employed to obtain, for the first time, the antimony nanoparticles embedded within reduced graphene oxide matrices (designated as Sb/rGO). By directly grinding antimony chloride and sodium hydroxide together at room temperature in the presence of graphene oxide (GO), Sb4O5Cl2 precursor was quickly obtained, which is evenly incorporated in the graphene oxide matrices. After subsequent chemical reduction by NaBH4, the Sb/rGO composite was successfully synthesized. The as-prepared Sb/rGO composite consists of uniform Sb nanoparticles of sub-20 nm, all of which have been wrapped in and protected by the rGO matrices. The Sb nanoparticles serve as a sufficient sodium ion reservoir while the rGO matrices provide highly efficient pathways for transport of sodium ions and electrons. Moreover, the volume expansion of Sb during sodiation can be buffered in the rGO matrices. As a result, the Sb/rGO composite exhibits excellent electrochemical performance in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), including an enhanced cycling stability with a highly reversible charge capacity of 455 mA h g−1 after 45 cycles at 100 mA g−1, and a coulombic efficiency exceeding 98% during cycling. The findings in the present work pave the way to not only synthesize the designated promising electrode materials for high performance SIBs, but also thoroughly understand the solid-state reaction.