A study of the anode of a lithium-ion battery - Effect of coating on the capacity loss of natural graphite

Natural graphite was coated with phenol-formaldehyde resin and subsequently heat treated under high temperature, and its electrochemical performance as an anode for lithium ion batteries was investigated. The initial discharge capacity of the coated graphite was as high as 460 mAh(.)g(-1) which was higher than 384 mAh(.)g(-1) of untreated graphite. The higher the heat treatment temperature (HTT) within the range 600 degreesC similar to 1000 degreesC, the lower the irreversible capacity. The capacity of the coated graphite remained higher than 330 mAh(.)g(-1) even after 20 cycles, meanwhile that of untreated Graphite was lower than 300 mAh(.)g(-1) The results indicate that the capacity loss can be notablely decreased by such a coating.