Bismuth germanate (Bi4Ge3O12), a promising high-capacity lithium-ion battery anode.

An unexplored promising lithiation-host anode material, Bi4Ge3O12, delivers a reversible specific discharge capacity of ∼586 mA h g-1 at 200 mA g-1 after 500 cycles with a coulombic efficiency of ∼99.8%. DFT calculations detected distorted [BiO6]9- octahedra, and the band structure of BGO revealed an indirect gap of 3.50 eV. A plausible reaction mechanism of storing lithium is proposed.