Physical characterization of carbonaceous materials prepared by mechanical grinding

By means of mechanical grinding, we recently reported the ability to prepare tailor-made carbon materials able to reversibly intercalate two lithiums per six carbons (e.g., Li2C6) while having irreversible capacities of 320 mA h/g. A schematic model involving two different types of surface area was previously proposed to account for the reversible and irreversible capacities measured vs. Li with these powders. We experimentally verified this model by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. Transmission Electronic Microscopy (TEM), which is a powerful tool for the direct imaging of poorly organized materials at the atomic scale has been used, together with Raman Spectroscopy, to follow the disorganization generated by mechanical grinding.