ZnO-Embedded Expanded Graphite Composite Anodes with Controlled Charge Storage Mechanism Enabling Operation of Lithium-Ion Batteries at Ultra-Low Temperatures

As lithium(Li)-ion batteries expand their applications,operating over a wide temperature range becomes increasingly important.However,the lowtemperature performance of conventional graphite anodes is severely hampered by the poor diffusion kinetics of Li ions(Li^(+)).Here,zinc oxide(ZnO) nanoparticles are incorporated into the expanded graphite to improve Li^(+)diffusion kinetics,resulting in a significant improvement in lowtemperature performance.The ZnO-embedded expanded graphite anodes are investigated with different amounts of ZnO to establish the structurecharge storage mechanism-performance relationship with a focus on lowtemperature applications.Electrochemical analysis reveals that the ZnOembedded expanded graphite anode with nano-sized ZnO maintains a large portion of the diffusion-controlled charge storage mechanism at an ultra-low temperature of-50℃ Due to this significantly enhanced Li^(+)diffusion rate,a full cell with the ZnO-embedded expanded graphite anode and a LiNi_(0.88)Co_(0.09)Al_(0.03)O_(2)cathode delivers high capacities of 176 mAh g^(-1)at20℃ and 86 mAh g^(-1)at-50℃ at a high rate of 1 C.The outstanding low-temperature performance of the composite anode by improving the Li^(+)diffusion kinetics provides important scientific insights into the fundamental design principles of anodes for low-temperature Li-ion battery operation.

Preparation of Expanded Graphite-based Composites by One Step Impregnation

A new method for preparing expanded graphite-based composites （EGCs） was developed.The obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）,transmission electron microscope （TEM） and nitrogen adsorption.The experimental results indicated that the EGCs was not simply mechanical mixture of EG and activated carbon,instead the activated carbon was coated on the surface of interior and external pores of the EG in the form of thin carbon layer.The thickness of the activated carbon layer was nearly one hundred nanometers by calculation.It was shown that the higher the impregnation ratio and the activation temperature were,the easier the porosity development would be.And the BET surface area and the total pore volume were as high as 1978 m2/g and 0.9917 cm3/g respectively at 350℃ with an impregnation ratio of 0.9.

Formation of NiFe_2O_4/Expanded Graphite Nanocomposites with Superior Lithium Storage Properties

A Ni Fe_2O_4/expanded graphite(Ni Fe_2O_4/EG)nanocomposite was prepared via a simple and inexpensive synthesis method. Its lithium storage properties were studied with the goal of applying it as an anode in a lithium-ion battery. The obtained nanocomposite exhibited a good cycle performance, with a capacity of 601 m Ah g^(-1)at a current of 1 A g^(-1)after 800 cycles. This good performance may beattributed to the enhanced electrical conductivity and layered structure of the EG. Its high mechanical strength could postpone the disintegration of the nanocomposite structure,efficiently accommodate volume changes in the Ni Fe_2O_4-based anodes, and alleviate aggregation of Ni Fe_2O_4 nanoparticles.

Electrical Properties of Expanded Graphite Intercalation Compounds

The intercalation compounds of CuCl2 were synthesized with expanded graphite, whose magnitude of the electrical conductivity is about 10(3)S(.)cm(-1). Their electrical conductivity is 3 similar to6 times as high as that of the expanded graphite, and about 10 times as high as that of GIC made of the non-expanded graphite. The microanalysis results of chemical compounds by X-ray energy spectrum scanning of TEM testified that the atomic ratio of chloride and cupric is nonstoichoimetric. The multivalence and exchange of electrovalence of the cupric ion was confirmed by the XPS-ESCA. Vacancy of chlorine anion increases the concentration of charge carrier. The special stage structure, made of graphite and chloride, produces a weak chemical bond belt and provides a carrier space in the direction of GIC layer. These factors develop the electrical properties.

A graphitized expanded graphite cathode for aluminum-ion battery with excellent rate capability

Aluminum-ion battery(AIB)is very promising for its safety and large current charge–discharge.However,it is challenging to build a high-performance AIB system based on low-cost materials especially cathode&electrolyte.Despite the low-cost expanded graphite-triethylaminehydrochloride(EG-ET)system has been improved in cycle performance,its rate capability still remains a gap with the expensive graphene-alkylimidazoliumchloride AIB system.In this work,we treated the cheap EG appropriately through an industrial high-temperature process,employed the obtained EG3K(treated at 3000℃)cathode with AlCl_(3)-ET electrolyte,and built a novel,high-rate capability and double-cheap AIB system.The new EG3K-ET system achieved the cathode capacity of average 110 m Ah g^(-1)at 1 A g^(-1)with 18,000cycles,and retained the cathode capacity of 100 m Ah g^(-1)at 5 A g^(-1)with 27,500 cycles(fast charging of 72 s).Impressively,we demonstrated that a battery pack(EG3K-ET system,12 m Ah)had successfully driven the Model car running 100 m long.In addition,it was confirmed that the improvement of rate capability in the EG3K-ET system was mainly derived by deposition,and its capacity contribution ratio was about 53.7%.This work further promoted the application potential of the low-cost EG-ET AIB system.

Mechanism of Fume Suppression and Performance on Asphalt of Expanded Graphite for Pavement under High Temperature Condition

Fume suppression mechanisms and the effect of expanded graphite on the performance of asphalt were studied by applying infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and comprehensive thermal analysis（TG, DSC）. The experimental results confirm that asphalt which is mixed with expandable graphite will expand in the process of hot mix, and the expanded graphite layer will swell by the light component in the asphalt. The light component in the asphalt and PAHs adsorption on expanded graphite surface or part of the plug in the expanded graphite layer between plates made nucleation crystallization growth. And the Van der Waals force and the bonding of the lattice can effectively restrain the asphalt fume release. Meanwhile, the expanding agent with oxidative can spread into the asphalt, leading to asphalt oxygenated and plastic abate, while the ductility decreases. Expanded graphite, SBS modifier and environment- friendly plasticizers are used to composite modified asphalt. According to asphalt fume release experiment, normal test of asphalt performance, Brookfield viscosity test, RTFOT test and asphalt mixture tests（high temperature stability, low temperature stability, water stability）, it has been proven that the modified asphalt’s performance is better than that of matrix asphalt and equivalent to that of SBS modified asphalt. Furthermore, it has good fume suppression effect.

Insights on the mechanism of Na-ion storage in expanded graphite anode

Currently,Na-ion battery(NIB) has become one of the most potential alternatives for Li-ion batteries due to the safety and low cost.As a promising anode for Na-ion storage,expanded graphite has attracted considerable attention.However,the sodiation-desodiation process is still unclear.In our work,we obtain expanded graphite through slight modified Hummer's method and subsequent thermal treatment,which exhibits excellent cycling stability.Even at a high current density of 1 A g^(-1),our expanded graphite still remains a high reversible capacity of 100 mA h g^(-1) after 2600 cycles.Furthermore,we also investigate the electrochemical mechanism of our expanded graphite for Na-ion storage by operando Raman technique,which illuminate the electrochemical reaction during different sodiation-desodiation processes.

Preparation and Characterization of TiO_2/Expanded Graphite

In order to obtain anatase TiO2/expanded graphite with high expansion volume, titania gel was introduced to expandable graphite surface by sol-gel process, and then the composite was expanded and calcined at high tempera- ture. The samples were analysed by using scanning electron microscope （SEM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, energy disperse spectroscopy （EDS）, and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）. The optimal conditions for preparation are as follows： the molar ratio of tetrabutyl orthotitanate to triethanolamine is 1 ： 0.4, and the calcination and expansion temperature is in the range of 650--750 ~C. Under such conditions, the expansion volume of composites could reach 98 mE/g, and the mass loss ratio is less than 5%. The analysis shows that lower temperature and smaller particle size of graphite are helpful to the formation of anatase-type of TiO2, but larger particle size will lead to lower mass loss ratio, and higher temperature and larger particle size will lead to higher expansion volume.

Adsorption mechanism of expanded graphite for oil and dyes

Expanded graphite （r-;G） shows higher adsorption capacity for oils than for dyes. To illustrate the different adsorption mechanism of EG for these pollutants, adsorption capacities of dyes and oil on EG were firstly studied. And then stepwise adsorption for oils was carried out with EG which has been saturated firstly by dyes, the difference between adsorbance of oil on EG was checked with deviation analysis. Scanning electronic microscopy （SEM） analysis was used to show structure difference of EG adsorbed different adsorbates. These used adsorbates were SD300 oil, basic fuchsine, Auramine lake yellow O and acid brilliant red 3B. The adsorption isotherm of dyes on EG is type 11 or type 1, and their equilibrium adsorbances are less than 1.0 g/g. While, adsorbance for SD300 oil can reach 104.5 g/g. Deviation analysis for stepwise adsorbances of oil shows no statistical significance. EG saturated firstly by dyes, still has an average adsorption capacity of 35 g/g for SD300 oil, and it does not change with the initial dyes concentration. SEM photos illustrate the adsorption of oil on EG is mainly filling, In the adsorption of dyes, there is severe breakage of the V-type pore and shrinkage of the particle. Kinetic difference is analyzed also.

A novel approach for synthesis of expanded graphite and its enhanced lithium storage properties

Relying on the great success in portable and smart devices,lithium ion batteries(LIBs)have been considered as one of the leading technologies in electric vehicles(EVs)and stationary energy storage systems(ESSs).With the rapid development of EVs and ESSs,the technology upgrading of LIBs is highly demanded.As expected,it requires LIBs with improved power and energy densities[1].

Research on Complex Refraction Indices of Expanded Graphite

The expanded graphite (EG) with a low density and better extinction performance can be used in military as passive jamming material in IR and MMW bands. Its complex refractive index is a significant parameter for the extinction property. This paper presents a method to calculate the complex refractive index of EG. The reflection spectra of EG pellets were measured in the 0.24-2.6μm and 2.5-25μm bands, respectively. Based on the measurement results, the complex refractive index of EG in 5-10μm band was calculated by using Kramers-Kronig(K-K) relation and Bruggeman effective medium theory, and then the errors were analyzed. The results indicate that it is feasible to calculate the complex refractive index of EG based on its IR reflection spectra data.

Palmitic Acid-Lauric Acid/Expanded Graphite as Form-Stable Composite Phase Change Material for Low-Temperature Energy Storage Applications

Low thermal conductivity of binary fatty acid mixture of palmitic and lauric acids(PA-LA)within the value range of 0.15-0.17 W/(m·K)restricts its wide utilization as thermal energy storage material in the active regime of solar heating applications at low operating temperatures.Nevertheless,this mixture as phase change material(PCM)has a suitable phase-change temperature and heat of 36℃and 176.3 J/g,respectively.Hence,the objective of this study is to formulate a novel form-stable composite PCM with the PA-LA mixture and expanded graphite(EG)as a thermal enhancer.PA-LA eutectic mixture with varied concentrations of EG was prepared and characterized.The thermal conductivity of PA-LA/EG increased gradually with the mass of EG.Optimum thermal properties were observed in PA-LA/(5%EG)composite,where its melting(T_(m)),freezing temperature(T_(t)),latent melting heat and thermal conductivity was 35.53℃,34.84℃,174 J/g,and 1.19 W/(m·K),respectively.Also,the composite PCM is characterized by good chemical-thermal stability and thermal reliability for long-term usage.In conclusion,it can be utilized as a prospective form-stable PCM for thermal energy storage in solar heating systems,overheat treatment systems,and other thermal storage applications at low operating temperatures.

Preparation and Properties of 1-octadecanol/1,3:2,4-di-(3,4-dimethyl) Benzylidene Sorbitol/Expanded Graphite Form-stable Composite Phase Change Material

A 1-octadecanol（OD）/1,3:2,4-di-（3,4-dimethyl） benzylidene sorbitol（DMDBS）/expander graphite（EG） composite was prepared as a form-stable phase change material（PCM） by vacuum melting method. The results of field emission-scanning electron microscopy（FE-SEM） showed that 1-octadecanol was restricted in the three-dimensional network formed by DMDBS and the honeycomb network formed by EG. X-ray diffraction（XRD） and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR） results showed that no chemical reaction occurred among the components of composite PCM in the preparation process. The gel-to-sol transition temperature of the composite PCMs containing DMDBS was much higher than the melting point of pure 1-octadecanol. The improvements in preventing leakage and thermal stability limits were mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of the three-dimensional network formed by DMDBS and the honeycomb network formed by EG. Differential scanning calorimeter（DSC） was used to determine the latent heat and phase change temperature of the composite PCMs. During melting and freezing process the latent heat values of the PCM with the composition of 91% OD/3% DMDBS/6% EG were 214.9 and 185.9 kJ·kg-1, respectively. Its degree of supercooling was only 0.1 ℃. Thermal constant analyzer results showed that its thermal conductivity（κ） changed up to roughly 10 times over that of OD/DMDBS matrix.

Thermal Property Enhancement of a Novel Shape-Stabilized Sodium Acetate Trihydrate-Acetamide/Expanded Graphite-Based Composite Phase Change Material

Phase change materials(PCMs)are a kind of highly efficient thermal storage materials which have a bright application prospect in many fields such as energy conservation in buildings,waste heat recovery,battery thermal management and so on.Especially inorganic hydrated salt PCMs have received increasing attention from researchers due to their advantages of being inexpensive and non-flammable.However,inorganic hydrated salt PCMs are still limited by the aspects of inappropriate phase change temperature,liquid phase leakage,large supercooling and severe phase separation in the application process.In this work,sodium acetate trihydrate was selected as the basic inorganic PCM,and a novel shape-stabilized composite phase change material(CPCM)with good thermal properties was prepared by adding various functional additives.At first,the sodium acetate trihydrate-acetamide binary mixture was prepared and the melting point was adjusted using acetamide.Then the binary mixture was incorporated into expanded graphite to synthesize a novel shape-stabilized CPCM.The thermophysical properties of the resultant shape-stabilized CPCM were systematically investigated.The microscopic morphology and chemical structure of the obtained shape-stabilized CPCM were characterized and analyzed.The experiment results pointed out that acetamide could effectively lower the melting point of sodium acetate trihydrate.The obtained shape-stabilized CPCM modified with additional 18%(mass fraction)acetamide and 12%(mass fraction)expanded graphite exhibited good shape stability and thermophysical characteristics:a low supercooling degree of 1.75℃and an appropriate melting temperature of 40.77℃were obtained;the latent heat of 151.64 kJ/kg and thermal conductivity of 1.411 W/(m·K)were also satisfactory.Moreover,after 50accelerated melting-freezing cycles,the obtained shape-stabilized CPCM represented good thermal reliability.

Preparation and Thermal Properties of a Novel Modified Ammonium Alum/Expanded Graphite Composite Phase Change Material

Thermal energy storage(TES)using phase change materials(PCMs)is a powerful solution to the improvement of energy efficiency.The application of Ammonium alum(A-alum,NH4Al(SO_(4))_(2)·12H_(2)O)in the latent thermal energy storage(LTES)systems is hampered due to its high supercooling and low thermal conductivity.In this work,modified A-alum(M-PCM)containing different nucleating agents was prepared and further adsorbed in expanded graphite(EG)to obtain composite phase change material(CPCM)to overcome the disadvantages of A-alum.Thermal properties,thermal cycle stability,microstructure and chemical compatibility of CPCM were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry,thermal constant analysis,scanning electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.The cold rewarming phenomenon of CPCM was established and explained.Results showed that the latent heat and melting point of CPCM were 187.22 J/g and 91.54℃,respectively.The supercooling of CPCM decreased by 9.61℃,and thermal conductivity increased by 27 times compared with pure A-alum.Heat storage and release tests indicated that 2 wt%calcium chloride dihydrate(CCD,CaCl_(2)·2H_(2)O)was the optimum nucleating agent for A-alum.The result of TG and 30 thermal cycles revealed that CPCM exhibited favorable thermal stability and reliability during the operating temperature.The prepared modified A-alum/EG CPCM has a promising application prospect for LTES.

Structure,Characterization and Thermal Properties of the Form-Stable Paraffin/High-Density Polyethylene/Expanded Graphite/Epoxy Resin Composite PCMs for Thermal Energy Storage

The form-stable paraffin/high-density polyethylene/expanded graphite/epoxy resin composite phase change materials(CPCMs),exhibiting suitable thermal properties,including low melting temperature,high conductivity and high phase change enthalpy,was developed in this work.Herein,paraffin(PA)was utilized as a core PCM.High-density polyethylene(HDPE)was utilized for the shape stabilization and preventing the PCMs leakage.Expanded graphite(EG)was used to increase its thermal conductivity and act also in the porous supporting material.Epoxy resin(ER)was used to provide flexible encapsulated scaffold morphology and keep a highly tight network structure of the PCMs.However,the physical architecture,the chemical architecture and thermal behavior properties of specimens were investigated by using the spectroscopy and calorimetry techniques.The scanning electron microscope(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD)and fourier transform infrared spectrometer FTIR tests have shown good uniformity structure and good compatibility of components.In addition,the thermal conductivity tests revealed that the thermal conductivity of PA,initially 0.31 W/(m·K)improved up to 1.9 times by adding the 6 wt%mass fraction of EG in composite PCMs.Furthermore,the differential scanning calorimeter(DSC)measurements indicated that PA melting enthalpy,initially 231 J/g decreased up to 125 J/g with the increase of the amount of HDPE which was due to the limitation caused by the atomic network constructed by the base material.The thermogravimetric analyzer(TGA)and leakage-proof revealed the enhancement of the degradation of PA with the raise of amount of the HDPE into the CPCMs.Therefore,the proposed form-stable CPCMs are a great candidate for the thermal regulation and thermal energy storage employment.

Design of a stearic acid/boron nitride/expanded graphite multifiller synergistic composite phase change material for thermal energy storage

In order to solve the problems of low thermal conductivity and easy liquid leakage of a stearic acid(SA),the composite phase change material(PCM)was prepared by adding boron nitride(BN)and expanded graphite(EG)to melted SA,and its thermal conductivity,crystal structure,chemical stability,thermal stability,cycle stability,leakage characteristics,heat storage/release characteristics,and temperature response characteristics were char-acterized.The results showed that the addition of BN and EG significantly improved the thermal conductivity of the material,and they efficiently adsorbed melted SA.The maximum load of SA was 76 wt.%and there was almost no liquid leakage.Moreover,the melting enthalpy and temperature were 154.20 J·g^(−1) and 67.85℃,re-spectively.Compared with pure SA,the SA/BN/EG composite showed a lower melting temperature and a higher freezing temperature.In addition,when the mass fraction of BN and EG was 12 wt.%,the thermal conductivity of the composite was 6.349 W·m^(−1)·K^(−1),which was 18.619 times that of SA.More importantly,the composite showed good stability for 50 cycles of heating and cooling,and the SA/BN/EG-12 hardly decomposes below 200℃,which implies that the working performance of the composite PCM is relatively stable within the tem-perature range of 100℃.Therefore,the composite can exhibit excellent thermal stability in the field of building heating.

Performance and mechanism of Cr(Ⅵ)removal by zero-valent iron loaded onto expanded graphite

Zero-valent iron（ZⅥ） was loaded on expanded graphite（EG） to produce a composite material（EG-ZⅥ） for efficient removal of hexavalent chromium（Cr（Ⅵ））. EG and EG-ZⅥ were characterized by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,Fourier-transform infrared（FTIR） spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller（BET） analysis. EG-ZⅥ had a high specific surface area and contained sub-micron sized particles of zero-valent iron. Batch experiments were employed to evaluate the Cr（Ⅵ） removal performance. The results showed that the Cr（Ⅵ） removal rate was 98.80% for EG-ZⅥ,which was higher than that for both EG（10.00%） and ZⅥ（29.80%）. Furthermore, the removal rate of Cr（Ⅵ） by EG-ZⅥ showed little dependence on solution p H within a p H range of 1–9.Even at pH 11, a Cr（Ⅵ） removal rate of 62.44% was obtained after reaction for 1 hr. EG-ZⅥ could enhance the removal of Cr（Ⅵ） via chemical reduction and physical adsorption,respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS） was used to analyze the mechanisms of Cr（Ⅵ） removal, which indicated that the ZⅥ loaded on the surface was oxidized, and the removed Cr（Ⅵ） was immobilized via the formation of Cr（III） hydroxide and Cr（III）–Fe（III）hydroxide/oxyhydroxide on the surface of EG-ZⅥ.

Constructing mild expanded graphite microspheres by pressurized oxidation combined microwave treatment for enhanced lithium storage

The modified graphite anode materials have some prominent advantages over other anode materials in the industrial applications.A novel simple and gentle method is proposed to synthesize the mild expanded graphite microspheres(MEGMs) from flake graphite spheres through a combined modified pressurized oxidation combined with the microwave treatment.The microstructural results demonstrate that moderately expanded MEGMs with an expansion volume between 4 and 10 ml·g^(-1)exhibit a highly microporous structure with an enlarged interlayer spacing,a decreased microcrystalline size,as well as an increased number of functional groups on the surface,resulting in the increased storage sites and spaces for lithium ions and the enhanced diffusion rate of lithium ions.When used as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries,the MEGM-T75t30 obtained by oxidation treatment at 75℃ for 30 min followed by microwave irradiation for expansion displays a high reversible capacity of 446.7 mAh·g^(-1) at 100 mA·g^(-1) after 100 cycles and excellent rate performance(330 and 116 mAh·g^(-1) at 800 and 3200 mA·g^(-1),respectively).Therefore,the MEGMs prepared by this convenient and mild method show excellent electrochemical properties and good application potential.

Comparative tribological behavior of friction composites containing natural graphite and expanded graphite

In this study, expanded graphite and natural graphite were introduced into resin-based friction materials, and the tribological behavior of the composites was investigated. The tribo-performance of the two friction composites was evaluated using a constant speed friction tester. The results showed that the expanded graphite composite (EGC) displayed better lubricity in both the fading and the recovery processes. The wear rate of the EGC decreased by 22.43%more than that of the natural graphite composite (NGC). In the fading process, and the EGC enhanced the stability of the coefficient of friction. The recovery maintenance rate of the NGC was 4.66% higher than that of the EGC. It can be concluded that expanded graphite plays an important role in the formation of a stable contact plateau and can effectively reduce the wear.