Unraveling the High-Rate Electrochemical Kinetics of CuSbS₂ for Sodium Storage

Abstract

Antimony-based materials have gained significant attention as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their high theoretical capacity and excellent rate performance. However, metal sulfides such as Cu₂S and Sb₂S₃ exhibit an initial capacity drop followed by a subsequent capacity recovery. To address these challenges, copper antimony sulfide (CuSbS₂) is synthesized and evaluated as an anode material for SIBs. The synthesized CuSbS₂ effectively mitigates these capacity variations (330 mAhg⁻¹ at 2.0 Ag⁻¹ after 200th cycles) and demonstrates superior rate performance. Moreover, comprehensive electrochemical analyses, including the distribution of relaxation times (DRT) analysis from in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), capacitive contribution assessment, and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) measurements, confirm its improved kinetic properties compared to Sb₂S₃. This study provides valuable insights into the rational design of bimetallic sulfides and contributes to the advancement of electrochemical performance analysis and the development of high-performance SIB anode materials.

Keywords

CuSbS₂ / DRT analysis / GITT / Sb₂S₃ / sodium-ion batteries

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2026 The Author(s). Energy & Environmental Materials published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Zhengzhou University.