Intermetallic Insertion Electrodes with a Zinc Blende-Type Structure for Li Batteries: A Study of Li[sub x]InSb (0≤x≤3)

The intermetallic compound with a zinc blende‐type (diamond) structure has been investigated as a host structure for lithium. After one break‐in cycle, it appears that lithium can be inserted electrochemically into the structure in a two‐step process to the approximate composition . X‐ray diffraction analysis showed that further lithiation of displaces from the structure to yield a closely related structure. The electrochemical reaction that occurs between 1.2 and is reversible. The cubic unit cell expands isotropically by only 5.6% upon insertion to the end member at . This finding has implications for developing commercially attractive intermetallic insertion electrodes with zinc blende‐type structures for lithium‐ion batteries.