Gallium oxide nanorods as novel, safe and durable anode material for Li- and Na-ion batteries

•Gallium oxide nanorods applied for the first time as anode material for Li-/Na-ion batteries.•Durable ambient temperature cycling (400 cycles) was observed in Li-based cells.•Stable reversible cycling (> 200 mAh g−1) was achieved for the first time in Na-based cells.

Gallium oxide nanorods prepared by template-free synthesis are reported for the first time as safe and durable anode material for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries. The ambient temperature electrochemical response of the nanorods, tested by cyclic voltammetry and constant-current reversible cycling, is highly satisfying in terms of remarkable stability and capacity retention upon long-term operation (400 cycles), even at high current densities. The newly proposed application of gallium oxide nanorods as electrode material is notable also because this material can preserve the electrical pathway without the need of any “buffer matrix” to compensate for the expansion upon lithium or sodium reversible storage. The highly promising electrochemical performance is attributed to the high aspect ratio and high surface area that stem from the nanorod morphology and which can lead to short diffusion path and fast kinetics of both cations (Li+ or Na+) and electrons.