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/商业潜力是将一种新的电解工艺商业化，以生产用于电动汽车电池的低成本、高功率石墨。电解合成的石墨提供了利用国内可用的可再生电力和二氧化碳来源的机会，并利用国内产能确保了电池生产的供应链。新的石墨合成工艺的商业化将对社会产生影响，这将显著降低石墨的制造成本，并利用国内可用的可再生电力和二氧化碳进行更可持续的制造工艺。该第一阶段研究项目的技术目标是：1)展示超临界二氧化碳对电解合成石墨的有效净化；2)回收高产量的提取副产品。目前的提纯工艺模仿商业石墨制造工艺的高温热提纯步骤。然而，这一过程既耗时又耗能，因此成本高昂。超临界流体净化有可能显著减少电解制造的石墨的净化时间、能源成本和环境足迹。通过控制二氧化碳压力、温度、流量、加水量和提取时间来优化提纯工艺。

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.