Anodic performances of surface-treated natural graphite for lithium ion capacitors

The surface of natural graphite was modified by the use of hydrogen peroxide and evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion capacitors (LICs). The surface treatment was carried out under various ultrasonic conditions of 200, 300, and 400 W, which were applied to a mixture of natural graphite and hydrogen peroxide solution for 1 h. While the bulk structure was maintained, the hexagonal symmetry and physical properties of natural graphite, such as BET surface area, tap density, and particle size, were affected by the surface treatment. FT-IR and XPS measurements confirmed the signature of C=O on the surface of graphite samples after treatment. Both the pristine and surface-treated graphites showed a similar reversible capacity of 370 mAhg^-1, and the coulombic efficiency of surface-treated graphite decreased with higher ultrasonic energies (89.1%, 89.0%, and 88.0% for 200, 300, and 400 W) comparing with pristine graphite (89.4%). The capacity retention of LICs was greatly improved with the treated natural graphite. The graphite treated under the ultrasonic energy of 300 W and pristine natural graphite showed capacity retention of 77.5% and 42.9%, implying that the surface treatment was an effective method for the improvement of natural graphite as an anode material for LICs.