Enhanced lithium storage performances of SnO₂ nanospheres induced by Sb dopants

In this work, highly uniform Sb doped SnO₂ nanospheres with different Sb doping concentrations were prepared by a hydrothermal method. Compared with the pure SnO₂ material, the obtained SnO₂:Sb nanospheres exhibits significantly enhanced lithium storage performances in both of the initial capacity and the cycling stability, severed as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Among the SnO₂:Sb materials provided in this work, the SnO₂:Sb nanospheres with 6 at% of Sb dopants delivers a highest discharge capacity of 1575 mA h g⁻¹ (charge capacity of 914 mA h g⁻¹) at the first cycle and excellent cyclability (588 mA h g⁻¹ at 100th cycles), due to the reduced crystalline size and the improved electrical conductivity induced by Sb dopants. (paper)