Electrochemical properties of some Sb or Te based alloys for candidate anode materials of lithium-ion batteries

Some antimony or tellurium based thermoelectric alloys have been prepared and studied as new candidate anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. It was found that some thermoelectric antimonides yield a volume capacity for reversible lithium storage more than twice that of state elf the art carbon based materials. Ex-situ XRD analyses show that the semimetals such as antimony, bismuth and tellurium in the semiconducting thermoelectric alloys are the active elements for the lithium adsorption. However, inactive elements are also necessary for an alloy electrode to ensure the electrochemical capacity retention during cycling. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.