Electrochemical performances of carbon coated FeSbO 4 as anode material for lithium batteries

Tetragonal FeSbO 4 with a coating carbon layer of ∼20 nm (FeSbO 4 /C) was synthesized via simple solid state method. The physical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical characteristics were studied via cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) and galvanostatic charge/discharge. Compared to FeSbO 4 , electronic conductivity of FeSbO 4 /C was obviously increased by coating a thin carbon layer. Furthermore, its reversible capacity and cycle performance were also improved. At 50 mA g −1 , the capacity of FeSbO 4 /C reached to 201.1 mAh g −1 at 200th cycle, while the value of FeSbO 4 was 107.2 mAh g −1 . The results indicate that FeSbO 4 /C is a potential anode material for lithium ion batteries.