Carbons prepared from coals for anodes of lithium-ion cells Original Research Article

Carbons were prepared by pyrolysing eight different coals from the Argonne Premium coal sample bank at temperatures near 1000 °C. Electrochemical cells were made to study lithium insertion in these carbons. The electrochemical behavior and physical properties of these pyrolysed coals was compared to that of pyrolysed sugar, PVC and pitch which we have studied carefully before. Using powder X-ray diffraction and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), we show that pyrolysed coals which have the smallest fraction of parallel-stacked graphene layers and hence the largest number of nanoscopic pores per unit mass, have the largest capacity for lithium insertion. A reversible capacity of about 450 mAh/g was attained for lithium/carbon cells made from Blind Canyon Seam coal.