Scalable synthesis of sustainable biosourced carbon coatings for next-generation lithium-ion battery natural graphite anodes

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Canada is on the verge of a clean energy technological revolution. In coming years, clean technologies are expected to become the primary solution to support Canada in meeting its greenhouse gases reduction objectives set by the Glasgow Climate Pack. Under said agreement, Canada aims to reduce by 2030 CO2 equivalent (CO2 eq) emissions by 30% (relative to 2005 emission levels). Based on recent emission data between 2005 and 2019, solutions must be proposed and rapidly implemented to achieve this goal as little to no progress has been achieved toward this CO2 reduction goal. Indeed, in 2019, 2015, 2010 and 2005, annual emission levels were respectively 730, 723, 703 and 739 megatonne CO2 eq. Electric vehicles are one of the avenues to correct this situation. The present Alliance grant research project tackles the urgent need to develop a new coating technology for electric vehicles lithium-ion battery natural graphite anodes that can circumvent current industrial limitations. The proposed Alliance project aims to scale an ongoing collaboration between Nouveau Monde Graphite and McGill University. This new coating process will not require a deagglomeration processing operation, will have the lowest CO2 eq carbon footprint of the market by successfully substituting industry standard fossil fuel coating precursors with biosourced coatings. These coatings will also provide enhanced performance of the battery in terms of total energy storage capacity, battery shelf life, and the capacity of the battery to be charged/discharged under intense charge/discharge regimes. The present Alliance research proposal has four research objectives: A = develop a biosourced chemical synthesis process to coat natural graphite anodes for enhanced performance as lithium-ion battery anodes; scale-up the coating technology for eventual application under industrial settings; C = Optimise the mechanical properties of lithium-ion battery coatings for superior downstream electrochemical performance; D = Optimise the heat treatment process to stabilise the electrochemical performance of coated natural graphite anodes using biosourced precursors.