Tailoring nanostructures in micrometer size germanium particles to improve their performance as an anode for lithium ion batteries.

A facile and scalable single-step approach is employed to synthesize a bulk germanium electrode, which consists of nanoscale Ge-grains in ∼5 μm porous powders. This three-dimensional Ge electrode exhibits superior specific capacity (∼1500 mA h g(-1)) and cyclic performance, attributed to its unique lithiation/delithiation processes.