Commercial cokes and graphites as anode materials for lithium - ion cells

Several types of carbonaceous materials from Superior Graphite Co. were investigated for lithium ion intercalation. These commercially available cokes, graphitized cokes and graphites have a wide range of physical and chemical properties. The coke materials were investigated in propylene carbonate based electrolytes and the graphitic materials were studied in ethylene carbonate/dimethyl solutions to prevent exfoliation. The reversible capacities of disordered cokes are below 230 mAh/g and those for many highly ordered synthetic (artificial) and natural graphites approached 372 mAh/g (LiC{sub 6}). The irreversible capacity losses vary between 15 to as much as 200% of reversible capacities for various types of carbon. Heat treated cokes with the average particle size of 10 microns showed marked improvements in reversible capacity for lithium intercalation. The electrochemical characteristics are correlated with data obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and BET surface area analysis. The electrochemical performance, availability, cost and manufacturability of these commercial carbons will be discussed.