Effect of turbostratic disorder on the staging phase diagram of lithium-intercalated graphitic carbon hosts

The staging phase transitions which occur during the intercalation of lithium in graphitic carbons were probed by in situ x-ray-diffraction and electrochemical methods. Turbostratic disorder (a random rotation or translation between adjacent graphene layers) in graphitic carbons (heat treated above 2200^∘{}C) affects the formation of staged phases because lithium does not insert between randomly stacked graphene layers. We call these interlayer spaces ``blocked galleries,'' which frustrate the formation of the regular sequence of full and empty galleries, characteristic of staged phases. Higher staged phases, like stage 4 and stage 3, are eliminated as the probability P for turbostratic disorder increases in graphitic carbons made at temperatures near 2300 ^∘{}C. Here, a staging phase diagram is developed in the P-x plane, where x is the lithium concentration in Liₓ{C}₆$, which demonstrates how the turbostratic disorder affects staging. {} 1996 The American Physical Society.