Using waste from pulp mills to make parts for lithium ion batteries

What is it about?

Batteries have an anode and a cathode, which are the key electrical parts that push and pull electrons for battery operation. For lithium ion batteries, the cathode is a lthium and metal oxide compound. The anode is made from carbon, in the form of graphite. Currently, the graphite for batteries is mostly made using high energy processes to convert petroleum and coal to graphite. We show that kraft lignin, a waste product from the manufacture of cardboard and other paper products, can be used to make graphite. The process is cost-competitive and uses less energy if lower temperature processing is used.

Featured Image

Photo by Zulfugar Karimov on Unsplash

Photo by Zulfugar Karimov on Unsplash