SBIR Phase I: Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Assisted Purification of Electrolytically Synthesized Graphite

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是一种新型电解工艺的商业化，以制造低成本，高功率的电动汽车电池石墨。电解合成石墨提供了利用国内可再生电力和二氧化碳资源的机会，并确保了国内生产能力的电池生产供应链。新型石墨合成工艺的商业化将对社会产生的影响是，石墨制造成本的显著降低，以及国内可再生电力和二氧化碳资源的更可持续的制造工艺。本研究项目第一阶段的技术目标是：1）证明使用超临界二氧化碳对电解合成石墨的有效纯化; 2）回收高收率的提取副产物。目前，纯化工艺模拟商业石墨制造工艺的高温热纯化步骤。然而，该过程是耗时的、能量密集的，并且因此是昂贵的。超临界流体纯化具有显著减少电解制造石墨的纯化时间、能量成本和环境足迹的潜力。将通过控制二氧化碳压力、温度、流速、加水和提取时间来优化纯化工艺。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is the commercialization of a novel electrolytic process to manufacture low-cost, high-power graphite for electric vehicle batteries. Electrolytically synthesized graphite offers the opportunity to utilize domestically available sources of renewable electricity and carbon dioxide and secure the supply chain for battery production with domestic production capacity. The impact on society that will be created by the commercialization of a novel graphite synthesis process is a significant decrease in graphite manufacturing cost and a more sustainable manufacturing process from domestically available sources of renewable electricity and carbon dioxide.The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to 1) demonstrate effective purification of electrolytically synthesized graphite using supercritical carbon dioxide and 2) recover a high yield of extracted by-products. Currently the purification process mimics the high-temperature thermal purification step of the commercial graphite manufacturing process. However, this process is time consuming, energy intensive, and therefore costly. Supercritical fluids purification has the potential to significantly reduce the purification time, energy cost, and the environmental footprint of electrolytically manufactured graphite. The purification process will be optimized by controlling carbon dioxide pressure, temperature, flow rate, water addition, and extraction time.