Facile synthesis of Sb-Sb₂O₅@P@C composite and study for the supercapacitor application

A Sb-Sb₂O₅@P@C composite was synthesized using a two-step high-energy mechanical milling (HEMM) method using metal antimony, red phosphorus, and carbon as raw materials. XPS, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy clearly showed that the Sb was partially oxidized to become Sb₂O₅ during the milling process and that some of the red phosphorus was converted to black phosphorus. A specific capacitance of 109.7 F g⁻¹ was achieved at a current density of 0.5 mA cm^-2 in the obtained Sb-Sb₂O₅@P@C composite, and the packaged supercapacitor prepared with the Sb-Sb₂O₅@P@C composite was found to maintain a capacitance retention of 77.3% after 5000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g⁻¹. This study therefore provides a possible direction for the selection of electrode materials the perform well for application in supercapacitors.