Study of the performance of SnxSbySz/carbon nanofibers composite as anode of sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as a promising alternative for energy storage. In this work, it has been synthesized a nanocomposite material of SbxSbySz/Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using low-cost synthesizing methods. First, CNFs have been obtained by electrospinning method with subsequent carbonation at 700°C. Afterward, a SbxSbySz thin coating is deposited on the CNFs by chemical bath deposition technique to obtain the SbxSbySz/CNFs. In order to obtain the SnSb2S4 crystalline phase, the composite is heated at 300°C in nitrogen atmosphere. The evaluation of this nanocomposite as the anode for SIBs has a reversible discharge capacity of 180 mAh g-1 and a columbic efficiency of 61.4% after 9 cycles. On the other hand, the resistance associated to the charge transfer to the CNFs decreases from 115.03 Ω to 77.86 Ω due to the incorporation of SnxSbySz. Finally, an easy and inexpensive route has been proposed for the synthesis of SbxSbySz/CNFs composite with great potential to be used as anode material for SIBs.