Engineering Nanostructured Antimony-Based Anode Materials for Sodium Ion Batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered a potential alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for energy storage due to their low cost and the large abundance of sodium resources. The search for new anode materials for SIBs has become a vital approach to satisfying the ever-growing demands for better performance with higher energy/power densities, improved safety and a longer cycle life. Recently, antimony (Sb) has been extensively researched as a promising candidate due to its high specific capacity through an alloying/dealloying process. In this review article, we will focus on different categories of the emerging Sb based anode materials with distinct sodium storage mechanisms including Sb, two-dimensional antimonene and antimony chalcogenide (Sb2S3 and Sb2Se3). For each part, we emphasize that the novel construction of an advanced nanostructured anode with unique structures could effectively improve sodium storage properties. We also highlight that sodium storage capability can be enhanced through designing advanced nanocomposite materials containing Sb based materials and other carbonaceous modification or metal supports. Moreover, the recent advances in operando/in-situ investigation of its sodium storage mechanism are also summarized. By providing such a systematic probe, we aim to stress the significance of novel nanostructures and advanced compositing that would contribute to enhanced sodium storage performance, thus making Sb based materials as promising anodes for next-generation high-performance SIBs.