Improvement of Electrochemical Performances of CoSb[sub 3] Anode by Using Nanosized Particles

Abstract
The nanosized CoSb3CoSb3 powder was prepared by solvothermal route and its electrochemical performances were evaluated as the potential anode materials for secondary Li-ion batteries. For comparison, the electrochemical performances of the microsized CoSb3CoSb3 powder prepared by levitation-melting/ballmilling were also investigated. It was found that the nanosized CoSb3CoSb3 shows improved cycling behavior compared to the microsized one. The mechanism for the improvement of cycling behavior was explored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, galvanostatic intermittent titration technique, ex situ X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the different microstructures for nano- CoSb3CoSb3 and micro- CoSb3CoSb3 underlie the different electrochemical performances between them. © 2005 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.