One-Step Mechanochemical Approach toward High-Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes

Sb₂S₃ has attracted considerable interest as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity (946 mAh/g). However, bulk Sb₂S₃ typically suffers from poor cycling performance, largely attributed to its low electronic conductivity and volume expansion resulting from alloying/dealloying reactions during discharge/charge cycles. Enhancing the electrical conductivity of Sb₂S₃ through transformation into multiphase compounds may improve the reversibility and stability of discharge/charge processes. In this study, a one-step mechanochemical method was employed to synthesize a composite of Sb/Fe_1−xS/Fe₇S₈/Sb₂S₃ anchored on exfoliated graphite (denoted as 2Fe/Sb₂S₃-G15%). When utilized as an anode material for LIBs, 2Fe/Sb₂S₃-G15% exhibited average discharge/charge capacities of 679.98/661.82, 572.36/554.12, 447.58/430.04, 353.06/342.64, 282.1/275.8, and 220.92/217.28 mAh/g at current densities of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 A/g, respectively, outperforming most Sb₂S₃-based anode materials. Given that the experimental procedure involves only a single step of mechanical ball milling and achieves nearly 100% utilization of raw materials, this work offers a promising reference for the simple and efficient preparation of advanced LIB anodes.