NETL research has unlocked a low-temperature synthesis process to turn America’s coal into critical mineral graphite with a lower processing intensity, adding to the domestic supply chain and addressing commercial market needs for several key industries as well.

The novel process NETL researchers developed focuses on using earth-abundant catalyst materials, such as iron, to facilitate the production of highly crystalline graphite. Coal of different ranks, coal waste, coal char, bio-char, petroleum coke (PET coke) and plastic waste have been demonstrated to work as feedstocks with this process.

However, the new catalyst from NETL results in a manufacturing process that is not only quicker than conventional catalytic processes, but also requires less heat, and therefore uses less energy and costs less for users to operate.

The NETL catalyst is responsible for dropping process temperatures from 3,000 degrees Celsius down to less than 1,500 degrees Celsius and reducing process times from several weeks to just a few hours.

Additionally, research demonstrates the catalyst can be recovered, recycled and reused indefinitely, which improves the overall economics of graphite production. For example, battery anodes using graphite produced with the NETL-developed catalytic process perform as well as anodes made with commercial graphite.

“The low-temperature synthesis of graphite from coal and coal waste could lead to a new cost-effective domestic industrial manufacturing base for this critical material,” said Ki-Joong Kim, research scientist in the Materials Engineering and Manufacturing Division of NETL and principal investigator of the Lab’s catalytic process. “This could be a splendid asset in the toolbox of the American economy, as new graphite sources and production methods are needed now more than ever.”

Graphite is classified as a critical mineral in the United States because of its use in essential manufacturing combined with the limitations caused by its offshore supply chain. Graphite’s characteristics make it valuable for a range of energy applications, including battery electrodes, steel production, nuclear power and much more.

Roughly one-third of the global market is supplied using natural graphite, with the remaining two-thirds being supplied by synthetic graphite. Global production of both natural graphite and synthetic graphite is concentrated in China, which currently produces more than two-thirds of the world’s natural graphite (approximately 70% of world production) and more than half of the world’s synthetic graphite (approximately 60% of world production). Natural graphite has not been mined in the United States since 1990, while synthetic graphite production continues to grow.

Low-temperature synthesis of graphite from America’s coal industries could lead to a new cost-effective domestic industrial manufacturing base for this critical material.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory dedicated to innovating and accelerating the nation’s energy solutions in hydrocarbon, geothermal energy and critical mineral production. With research sites in Albany, Oregon; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, NETL operates as one laboratory to create advanced energy technologies that support DOE’s mission and enable affordable, reliable and secure energy to fuel human prosperity.