Nanosized SnSb alloy has been deposited and dispersed uniformly on the surf
ace of mesophase carbon microbeads (MCMB) by a co-precipitation method in g
lycerin solution. As an active anode material for lithium ion batteries the
se composites show improved cycling performance. This improvement is due to
the dispersion of the nano-sized alloy particles on the carbon surface tha
t can alleviate the aggregation of nano-sized alloy particles during Li ins
ertion and extraction. Furthermore, as both SnSb alloy and MCMB are active
materials for Li-storage, a higher reversible capacity of 420 mA h g(-1) ha
s been achieved for the composite containing 26 wt% of SnSb alloy deposited
on MCMB.