Prelithiation Enabled Recycling of Graphite from Pencils as Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Graphite materials recovered from pencil waste (2B grades) were first tested as a possible anode source for Li-ion batteries, preliminary coin cell data indicated that the first cycle coulombic efficiency is quite low around 53% as compared to the control group (~90%), this is very likely due to significant parasitic reactions related to non-graphitic components presented in pencil graphite. To overcome this obstacle, prelithiation was applied to pencil graphite anode via lithium metal in a Swagelok cell, the resulting pencil graphite anode showed better cycle life than control in a full cell paired with LiFePO₄cathode. These results implied that direct recycling of pencil graphite, combined with prelithiation treatment of the graphite anode could be a technically viable source for Li-ion batteries. This alternative graphite source may help address the critical battery materials shortage which is likely to hinder the growth of the EV battery industry.