A Brief Introduction to Graphite

Over the past three decades, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have undergone a remarkable evolution, transitioning from powering small devices to fueling large-scale applications like electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary energy storage systems. An important advancement in this journey has been the adoption of graphite-based anodes, replacing soft and hard carbons. This shift has significantly improved full-cell energy densities, thanks to graphite’s low lithiation/delithiation potential and impressive (theoretical) gravimetric capacity of 372 mAh/g [1]. The improvements in graphite electrodes, shown in Fig. 1, have a long history. Since 1975, we’ve known that graphite can form a chemical compound with lithium, namely LiC6, in a reversible process. In the 1970s, however, graphite could not be used successfully for batteries due to issues with the liquid organic electrolytes, which resulted in continuous decomposition.  <a href="https://medium.com/batterybits/a-brief-introduction-to-graphite-7901d4ed7f19">Learn More</a>