ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE OF NATURAL BRAZILIAN GRAPHITE AS ANODE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM-ION RECHARGEABLE CELLS

The properties of natural Brazilian graphite have been investigated in a three-electrode laboratory button cell containing 1 M LiPF6 dissolv ed in ethylene carbonate-dimethyl carbonate (EC-DMC) as the electrolyt e. The charge/discharge behaviour of the graphite is greatly affected by the preliminary treatments and techniques used for the preparation of the electrode. By optimizing these procedures, a specific capacity very close to the theoretical value can obtained. When using LiPF6/EC- DMC electrolyte, a high charge/discharge coulombic efficiency is obser ved.