Abstract

Nanosized SnSb alloy has been deposited and dispersed uniformly on the surface of mesophase carbon microbeads (MCMB) by a co-precipitation method in glycerin solution. As an active anode material for lithium ion batteries these composites show improved cycling performance. This improvement is due to the dispersion of the nano-sized alloy particles on the carbon surface that can alleviate the aggregation of nano-sized alloy particles during Li insertion and extraction. Furthermore, as both SnSb alloy and MCMB are active materials for Li-storage, a higher reversible capacity of 420 mA h g⁻¹ has been achieved for the composite containing 26 wt% of SnSb alloy deposited on MCMB.