Lithium storage characteristics of a new promising gallium selenide anodic material

A gallium selenide (GaSe) compound with a layered crystal structure was synthesized via chemical reduction with hydrazine solution, and its electrochemical characteristics, including reaction mechanisms for lithium ion battery (LIB) anodes, are presented in this work. The cyclic voltammetry and ex-situ X-ray diffraction results indicated that some of lithium ions were intercalated/deintercalated into GaSe lattices such as graphite, and others reacted with the decomposed gallium to form LixGa, followed by an alloying/dealloying process. The GaSe anode showed a discharge capacity as high as 760 mA h g−1 at the 50th cycle, with excellent cyclic stability due to the highly reversible reactions enabled by its layered structure.