Hollow Zn₂GeO₄ nanorods supported on reduced graphene oxides as an environment-friendly high-capacity anode material for lithium ion batteries

A low-cost and facile hydrothermal method has been developed to synthesize high-quality hollow Zn₂GeO₄ nanorods supported on reduced graphene oxides (RGO). A growth mechanism of "surface etching process" has been provided here for the aids of understanding the formation of the hollow nanostructures. The as-obtained hollow Zn₂GeO₄/RGO hybrids exhibited remarkably enhanced performance as an anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) compared with bare Zn2GeO4 as well as solid Zn₂GeO₄/RGO hybrids. This hybrid has a high specific capacity over 900 mA h g^-1 at a rate of 100 mA g^-1 base on the mass of Zn₂GeO₄ in the initial discharge process and excellent retention of the initial capacity after 20 cycles. During the whole cyclic process, the coulombic efficiency steadily remained higher than 90%.