Three-Dimensional Antimony Nanochains for Lithium-Ion Storage

Three-dimensional antimony nanochain architectures with a rhombohedral phase, possessing particle sizes of ∼30 nm, have been prepared via ammonia–borane reduction of SbCl₃ in an aqueous medium, followed by nucleation and capping processes. These offer adequate space to abate the large volumetric expansion during lithiation. Lithium-ion batteries fabricated with these antimony nanochains exhibited a stable specific charge capacity of 523 mAh g^–1 at a C rate of 0.5 C with a Coulombic efficiency of 99.8% and a capacity retention of 92% after 100 cycles.