Coke powder heat-treated with boron oxide using an Acheson furnace for lithium battery anodes Original Research Article

Coal tar pitch-based coke power was heat-treated with B2O3 using an Acheson furnace. The heat-treated coke powder contained nitrogen and oxygen probably derived from BN and B2O3, respectively, and exhibited a large irreversible capacity in the first charge–discharge (lithium dope–undope) cycle. The large irreversible capacity was decreased not by the decomposition of BN or B2O3 but drastically by the increase of dissolved boron concentration. The discharge capacity also correlated well with the concentration of dissolved boron.