Hydrothermal synthesis of hollow Ca2Ge7O16 microspheres as high-capacity anodes for Li-ion batteries with long cycling life

Abstract

Urchin-like Ca₂Ge₇O₁₆ hollow spheres have been successfully synthesised by hydrothermal methods assisted with urea or N-methyl urea. When tested as anode materials, the as-obtained urchin-like hollow spheres consisting of nanorods with diameters of about 20 nm could deliver a capacity of 603 mA h g⁻¹ after 200 cycles at a current density of 1000 mA g⁻¹.