Enhanced charge capacity and stability of Germanium(IV) Sulfide-Based anodes through Triton X100-Assisted synthesis and polysulfide shuttle mitigation

Highly soluble germanium oxide, an amorphous macroreticular form of germanium oxide, was used as a precursor for the deposition of GeS₂ on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) through a low-temperature, wet-chemistry process. Thermal treatment of the solid provided an ultrathin rGO – supported amorphous GeS₂ coating. The GeS₂@rGO composite was tested as a lithium ion battery (LIB) anode. Leveraging the versatility of wet chemistry processing, we employed strategies initially developed for mitigating polysulfide shuttle effects in lithium-sulfur batteries to enhance anode performance. The anode exhibited exceptional stability, surpassing 1000 cycles, with charge capacities exceeding 1220 and 870 mAh.g⁻¹ at rates of 2 and 5 A.g⁻¹, respectively. Performance improvements were achieved by minimizing GeS₂ grain size using the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 during synthesis and preventing polysulfide shuttle effects through a negatively charged thick glass fiber separator, fluoroethylene carbonate additive (FEC) in EC:DEC (ethylene carbonate: diethyl carbonate) solvent, and a polyacrylic acid (PAA) binder. These cumulative modifications more than tripled the charge capacity of the germanium sulfide LIB anode. Feasibility was further demonstrated through full cell studies using a LiCoO₂ counter electrode.