Li-and Na-ion Storage Performance of Natural Graphite via Simple Flotation Process

Noureddine Ait Laziz (1) , John Abou-Rjeily (2) , Ali Darwiche (3) , Joumana Toufaily (4) , Abdelkader Outzourhit, (1) , Fouad Ghamouss (2) , Moulay Tahar Sougrati (3)

1 Université Caddi Ayyad, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques
2 PCM2E - Physico-chimie des Matériaux et des Electrolytes pour l'Energie
3 ICGM - Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier - Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux de Montpellier
4 LU / ULB - الجامعة اللبنانية [بيروت] = Lebanese University [Beirut] = Université libanaise [Beyrouth]

Natural graphite is obtained from an abandoned open-cast mine and purified by a simple, eco-friendly and affordable beneficiation process including ball milling and flotation process. Both raw graphite (55 wt %) and its concentrate (85 wt %) were electrochemically tested in order to evaluate these materials as anode materials for Li-ion and Na ion batteries. It was found that both raw and purified graphites exhibit good electrochemical activities with respect to lithium and sodium ions through completely different reaction mechanisms. The encouraging results demonstrated in this work suggest that both raw and graphite concentrates after flotation could be used respectively for stationary and embedded applications. This strategy would help in developing local electrical storage systems with a significantly low environmental footprint.

Mots clés: Natural graphite; Na-ion batteries; Li-ion batteries; Energy storage; Stationary application; Froth flotation

Domaines: Chimie; Matériaux

Noureddine Ait Laziz, John Abou-Rjeily, Ali Darwiche, Joumana Toufaily, Abdelkader Outzourhit,, et al.. Li-and Na-ion Storage Performance of Natural Graphite via Simple Flotation Process. Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology, 2018, 9 (4), pp.320-329. ⟨10.5229/JECST.2018.9.4.320⟩. ⟨hal-02065013⟩