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%.