Proton enhanced scattering and nuclear reaction analysis microcharacterization of ternary graphite-lithium-calcium intercalation compounds

Intercalation of lithium into graphite is of great interest. due to its largely expanded use as negative electrode material in the Li-ion batteries, especially the LiC6 compound. Recently, the first ternary intercalation compounds associating lithium with a second metallic element were synthesized by immersing pyrographite platelet in a molten Ca-Li alloy. Photonic and neutronic diffractions on these graphite-lithium-calcium compounds reveal that lithium and calcium layers are intercalated between graphene sheets. However, the precise elemental composition still lacks. Chemical analysis gives an average composition but carbon is not measured in the same sample as calcium and lithium. Electron microprobe, SEM and TEM do not allow to determine lithium concentration and its distribution in these compounds. This paper reports the first elemental characterization of carbon-calcium-lithium intercalation compounds by means of nuclear microprobe. Using a 3.1 MeV proton beam, both lithium, calcium and carbon can be determined within a single measurement, from the Li-7(p, alpha)He-4 nuclear reaction and from elastic scattering for calcium and carbon respectively. In the graphite-lithium-calcium system, three different intercalation compounds were synthesized, containing low to high lithium content. The mapping of the samples reveals lateral and also mainly in depth heterogeneity (along the c axis). (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.