Characterization and Analysis of Coal-Derived Graphite for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Graphite is a critical material used as the negative electrode in lithium-ion batteries. Both natural and synthetic graphites are utilized, with the latter obtained from a range of carbon raw materials. In this work, efforts to synthesize graphite from coal as a domestic feedstock for synthetic graphite are reported. The performance in lithium-ion coin cells of this coal derived graphite is compared to commercial battery-grade graphite. This includes characterization of the thermodynamics of the coal derived graphite using the multi-species, multi-reaction (MSMR) model, characterization of the entropy and enthalpy of the material, and estimation of the rate capability. This enables modeling of synthetic coal-derived graphites and virtual evaluation [1] of these materials towards electric vehicle and grid storage applications. References 1. T. R. Garrick, Y. Zeng, J. B. Siegel, and V. R. Subramanian, "From Atoms to Wheels: The Role of Multi-Scale Modeling in the Future of Transportation Electrification." Journal of The Electrochemical Society 170.11 (2023): 113502.