Lithium Germanate (Li 2 GeO 3 ): A High‐Performance Anode Material for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

A simple, cost‐effective, and easily scalable molten salt method for the preparation of Li 2 GeO 3 as a new type of high‐performance anode for lithium‐ion batteries is reported. The Li 2 GeO 3 exhibits a unique porous architecture consisting of micrometer‐sized clusters (secondary particles) composed of numerous nanoparticles (primary particles) and can be used directly without further carbon coating which is a common exercise for most electrode materials. The new anode displays superior cycling stability with a retained charge capacity of 725 mAh g −1 after 300 cycles at 50 mA g −1 . The electrode also offers excellent rate capability with a capacity recovery of 810 mAh g −1 (94 % retention) after 35 cycles of ascending steps of current in the range of 25–800 mA g −1 and finally back to 25 mA g −1 . This work emphasizes the importance of exploring new electrode materials without carbon coating as carbon‐coated materials demonstrate several drawbacks in full devices. Therefore, this study provides a method and a new type of anode with high reversibility and long cycle stability.