Wrapping Sb2Te3 with Graphite Layer toward High Volumetric Energy and Long Cycle Li-Ion Batteries

Many recent efforts on electrode design for advanced Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are often devoted to increasing the gravimetric capacity, but little attention is paid to the volumetric capacity which is more critical for practical application. Though the alloying-type anode materials are quite attractive, challenge is that they must be composited with large amount of carbon materials (e.g. GO, rGO, CNT) to buffer their large volume change, which would undoubtedly sacrifice the volumetric energy density of the whole electrode due to the carbon’s low tap density (0.05 g/cm3). Herein, we propose the unique layered Sb2Te3, which possesses high conductivity and large volumetric capacity (3419 mAh/cm3), to be served as the alternative anode for LIBs. Furthermore, we introduce natural graphite, which is low price and with high density (2.25 g/cm3), into Sb2Te3 to successfully build a novel Sb2Te3@Gra composite in which the Sb2Te3 particles are wrapped by graphite layers. Interestingly, this modified Sb2Te3@Gra exhi...