Direct Synthesis of Fluorinated Carbon Materials via a Solid-State Mechanochemical Reaction Between Graphite and PTFE

Fluorinated carbon materials (FCMs) have received significant attention, because of their exceptional stability, which is associated with the strong C-F bonding, the strongest among carbon single bonds. However, the fluorination of carbon materials requires extremely toxic and moisture-sensitive reagents, which makes it inapplicable for practical uses. Here, a straightforward and relatively safe method are reported for the scalable synthesis of FCMs, by mechanochemical depolymerization of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and fragmentation of graphite. The resultant FCMs are evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). An optimized FCM delivered capacities as high as 951.6 and 329.3 mAh g (-1) at 0.05 and 10 A g (-1), respectively. It also demonstrated capacity retention as high as 76.6% even after 1000 cycles at 2.0 A g (-1).