Tin chalcogenides are considered as promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high theoretical lithium-storage capacity. Herein, we have successfully synthesized the composites of tin chalcogenides and graphite, that is, SnS/C, SnSe/C, and SnS_0.5Se_0.5/C, via a simple one-pot solid-state method. During the electrochemical test, they exhibit excellent lithium-storage ability and cyclic performance as the anode electrodes of LIBs due to the introduction of carbon. In particular, (i) SnS/C displayed a high specific capacity of 875 mAh g^–1 at 0.2 A g^–1 over 200 cycles; (ii) SnSe/C presents 734 mAh g^–1 at 0.2 A g^–1 after 100 cycles, and it delivers 690 mAh g^–1 at 1.0 A g^–1 over 300 cycles; and (iii) the SnS_0.5Se_0.5/C composite electrode delivers a specific capacity of 643 mAh g^–1 at 0.5 A g^–1 over 150 cycles. Furthermore, another series of tin-based composites have also been successfully fabricated (i.e., Sn/C, SnS₂/C, SnSe₂/C, and SnTe/C), showing the general applicability of the synthetic route applied here. Our synthetic approach demonstrates a promising route for the large-scale production of high-performance tin chalcogenides/C anode materials for LIBs and other battery systems (e.g., Na-ion and K-ion batteries).

Herein, we successfully synthesized two novel metal thiophosphites (MTPs) hybridized with carbon, that is, NiPS₃/C and SnPS₃/C composites, via an environment-friendly and cost-effective approach without harsh reaction conditions. Subsequently, the electrochemical performances of NiPS₃/C and SnPS₃/C composites have been investigated in coin-cells, and it is revealed that MTPs/C have a significantly higher Li-storage capacity and better stability compared to the MTPs without carbon. Moreover, the SnPS₃/C electrode shows a lower internal resistance and a better rate performance compared to NiPS₃/C. We employed extensive ex situ experiments to characterize the materials and interpreted the remarkably improved performance of MTPs/C.