Sub-microcrystalline Sn and Sn-SnSb powders as lithium storage materials for lithium-ion batteries

The cycling behaviors of Sn and Sn-SnSb powders, which were synthesized by chemical reduction and combined with a binder and a conductive additive to produce composite electrodes, are presented. The cycling stability of the electrode increased with decreasing particle size, and was higher for the multiphase material (Sn-SnSb) than for the single-phase material (Sn) of comparable particle size. The higher cycling stability of Sn-SnSb is explained by the subsequent reaction of the constituent phases and the mechanism of the reaction of SnSb with Li, and is discussed with respect to other multiphase materials which have been reported in the literature. The best- performing material was Sn-SnSb of particle size <300 nm, yielding about 200 cycles for galvanostatic, charge- limited (360 mAh g(-1)) cycling. (C) 1999 The Electrochemical Society. S1099- 0062( 98) 10- 073- 1. All rights reserved.