The lithium storage properties of potassium octatitanate as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

•Novel leaf-like K2Ti8O17 was fabricated by novel approach.•The K2Ti8O17 possessed sufficient structure stability.•The K2Ti8O17 exhibited impressive lithium storage performance.

Herein, potassium octatitanate (K2Ti8O17, denoted as KTO), with a novel leaf-like morphology and a nanoscale size of less than 50 nm, was synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method and evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. It was found that this material can reversibly intercalate lithium. As a result, the KTO shows impressive electrochemical performance, in terms of high lithium storage, good cycle performance and ultra-long life. This work may open up a broader vision into developing anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.