3D nitrogen-doped carbon foam supported Ge@C composite as anode for high performance lithium-ion battery

•3D Ge-based anode material with N-doped carbon foam (Ge/C-NCF) was prepared.•Synergistic effects of the NCF and carbon matrix greatly enhanced the performance.•The 3D Ge/C-NCF exhibits high reversible capacity and stable cycling capability.•The method can motivate the fabrication of other materials with huge volume change.

In this work, we successfully designed and synthesized Ge nanoparticles encapsulated in a carbon matrix and supported by three-dimensional interconnected porous N-doped carbon foam (3D Ge/C-NCF) nanoarchitecture. When applied as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, the obtained composite electrode exhibits high capacity of 878.1 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1 after 150 cycles. Additionally, it also achieves excellent rate capability and cycling stability. The significant improved electrochemical performance of Ge/C-NCF can be attributed to the synergetic effects of the carbon matrix and the N-doped carbon framework: including a highly conductive carbon network and a structure with large porous for mitigates volume changes of Ge nanoparticles. This study of the composite electrode may provide an interesting method to creating efficient and practical electrodes for those that suffer from huge volume expansion for energy storage applications.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (120KB)Download full-size image