Recently, metal chalcogenides have received considerable attention as prospective anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because of their high theoretical capacities based on their alloying or conversion reactions. Herein, we demonstrate a gallium(III) telluride (Ga2Te3)-based ternary composite (Ga2Te3-TiO2-C) synthesized via a simple high-energy ball mill as a great candidate SIB anode material for the first time. The electrochemical performance, as well as the phase transition mechanism of Ga2Te3 during sodiation/desodiation, is investigated. Furthermore, the effect of C content on the performance of Ga2Te3-TiO2-C is studied using various electrochemical analyses. As a result, Ga2Te3-TiO2-C with an optimum carbon content of 10% (Ga2Te3-TiO2-C(10%)) exhibited a specific capacity of 437 mAh·g-1 after 300 cycles at 100 mA·g-1 and a high-rate capability (capacity retention of 96% at 10 A·g-1 relative to 0.1 A·g-1). The good electrochemical properties of Ga2Te3-TiO2-C(10%) benefited from the presence of the TiO2-C hybrid buffering matrix, which improved the mechanical integrity and electrical conductivity of the electrode. This research opens a new direction for the improvement of high-performance advanced SIB anodes with a simple synthesis process.
Keywords: Ga2Te3; Ga2Te3–TiO2–C; Na ion; anodes; sodiation/desodiation.