A crystalline organic hybrid indium antimony sulfide for high performance lithium/sodium storage

By using 1,4-butanediamine (1,4-DAB) as a structure directing agent, a new crystalline organic hybrid indium antimony sulfide [1,4-DABH₂][1,4-DABH]₂[In₄Sb₄S₁₄]·2H₂O (DIAS) has been solvothermally synthesized. The single crystal XRD analysis shows that the as-prepared DIAS features a two-dimensional anionic layer [In₄Sb₄S₁₄]_n⁴ⁿ⁻, where the protonated 1,4-DAB cations reside in the interlayers. Taking advantage of rich Sb and S sources in the inorganic layer, DIAS has been explored as an anode material in lithium/sodium ion batteries. When using DIAS as an anode material in lithium ion batteries, the corresponding electrode could provide a high reversible capacity of 407.9 mAh g⁻¹ over 200 cycles at a current density of 0.5 ​A ​g⁻¹. When using DIAS as an anode material in sodium ion batteries, the corresponding electrode could deliver a reversible capacity of 283.9 mAh g⁻¹ over 300 cycles at a current density of 1.0 ​A ​g⁻¹. Our research suggests that crystalline organic hybrid metal chalcogenides have great potential for setting up high performance lithium/sodium ion batteries.