A fast and high-efficiency electrochemical exfoliation strategy towards antimonene/carbon composites for selective lubrication and sodium–ion storage applications

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) layered antimony (Sb) materials are of importance due to their unique physicochemical properties, and they can be easily electrochemically exfoliated from bulk Sb in Na₂SO₄ electrolyte solution. However, the exfoliation yield is quite low and the exfoliated products are easily oxidized to Sb₂O₃, which prohibits their practical engineering applications. Herein, an antimonene/carbon composite is successfully fabricated with a high exfoliation yield through electrochemical exfoliation of bulk antimony chunk in a mixed electrolyte solution consisting of Na₂SO₄ and ethylene glycol. When the as-fabricated antimonene/carbon composite is added into PAO6 oil, the lubrication system exhibits a selective lubrication performance when sliding against GCr15 and YG8 ball, and the antiwear enhancement can be further improved by sliding against a YG8 ball. Besides, the antimonene/carbon composite can provide reliability and enough ion corridors during the charge/discharge processes. When tested as an anodic material for sodium–ion batteries, it exhibits a large capacity of 485.0 mA h g⁻¹ at a current density of 200 mA g⁻¹ after 150 cycles and a remarkable rate capability (334.5 mA h g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹).