Lead antimony alloy plates used in lead-acid batteries. Alloys of antimony with lead and tin can be used to improve the performance of welding materials, bullets and bearings. Antimony compounds are important additives for chlorine and bromine containing flame retardants, which are widely used. Antimony has also been widely used in emerging microelectronic technologies, such as AMD graphics card manufacturing.

Antimony mainly exists in the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3) in nature. Antimony compounds are known to have been used as cosmetics in ancient times. Antimony metal is also recorded in ancient times, but it was mistaken for lead at that time. Around the 17th century, it was known that antimony was a chemical element.