Regulating the chemical bond of carbon cloth for growing uniform Sb2O5 as high-performance sodium ion batteries anode

Abstract Carbon cloth is regarded as an outstanding substrate for constructing flexible electrodes because it can provide a stable support structure for the active materials and fast transport pathway for electrons. However, it is not very clearly that the chemical bond on the surface of carbon cloth effects on the adhesion of active materials. In this work, enough C=O bonds are formed on the surface of carbon cloth by adjusting the anodizing time. Furthermore, Sb2O5 nanoparticles with a diameter of about 50-100 nm grow uniformly on it through C-O-Sb bonds by one-step solvothermal reaction. It is found that the C=O bonds on the surface of carbon cloth are more favorable to form C-O-Sb bonds with Sb2O5 during solvothermal reaction. These C-O-Sb bonds are very important for Sb2O5 to maintain a high electrochemical performance. When employed as the sodium ion battery anode delivers a high reversible capacity of 641 mAh·g-1 at 200 mA·g-1 over 150 cycles after rate test. Consequently, this work provides a new perspective for loading uniform and firm active materials on the self-supporting electrode.