Porous-Nickel-Scaffolded Tin-Antimony Anodes with Enhanced Electrochemical Properties for Li/Na-Ion Batteries

The energy and power densities of rechargeable batteries urgently need to be increased to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumer electronics and electric vehicles. Alloy anodes are among the most promising candidates for next-generation high-capacity battery materials. However, the high capacities of alloy anodes usually suffer from some serious difficulties related to the volume changes of active materials. Porous supports and nanostructured alloy materials have been explored to address these issues. However, these approaches seemingly increase the active material-based properties and actually decrease the electrode-based capacity because of the oversized pores and heavy mass of mechanical supports. In this study, we developed an ultralight porous nickel to scaffold with high-capacity SnSb alloy anodes. The porous nickel-supported SnSb alloy demonstrates a high specific capacity and good cyclability for both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. Its capacity retains 580 mA h g(-1) at 2 A g(-1) after 100 cycles in Li-ion batteries. For a Na-ion battery, the composite electrode can even deliver a capacity of 275 mA h at 1 A g(-1) after 1000 cycles. This study demonstrates that combining the scaffolding function of ultralight porous nickel and the high capacity of the SnSb alloy can significantly enhance the electrochemical performances of Li/Na-ion batteries.