Amorphous GaN@Cu Freestanding Electrode for High-Performance Li-Ion Batteries

GaN is demonstrated to be an ideal anode for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) for the first time. Amorphous GaN@Cu nanorods (a-GaN@Cu) freestanding electrode is designed via a low-temperature pulsed laser deposition method, which exhibits prominent rate capability and untralong lifespan as an anode for LIBs. With porous interconnected metal nanorods substrate to improve the structure integrity and electronic conductivity, the a-GaN@Cu electrode delivers a capacity recovery of 980 mAh g(-1) after 150 cycles from 0.25 to 6.25 A g(-1) and a high discharge capacity of 509 mAh g(-1) after 3000 cycles at 10.0 A g(-1). The lithium storage in the a-GaN is also systematically studied, which suggests a redox reaction mechanism.