Surface modification of natural vein graphite for the anode application in Li-ion rechargeable batteries

Natural vein graphite with high purity and crystallinity is seldom used as anode material in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (LIB) due to impurities and inherent surface structure. This study focuses on improving the surface properties of purified natural vein graphite surface by employing mild chemical oxidation. Needle-platy graphite sample with initial average carbon percentage of 99.83% was improved to 99.98% after treatment with 5 vol.% HCl. Surface modification of purified graphite was done by chemical oxidation with (NH4)2S2O8 and HNO3. Fourier-transform infrared spectra of graphite after chemical indicating surface oxidation of graphite surface. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic studies show the improvement of graphite structure without modification of crystalline structure. Electrochemical performance of lithium-ion cell assembled with developed anode material shows noticeable improvement of the reversible capacity and coulombic efficiency in the first cycle and cycling behavior after surface modification.