What are the uses of graphite powder?

Graphite powder is a kind of material with many excellent properties. Its crystal structure is hexagonal layer, and the carbon atoms in the layer are bonded by covalent bonds. This unique structure gives the graphite powder many excellent properties, making it in modern industry and many other fields have a very wide and important application.

Industrial uses of graphite powder

Steel and metallurgical industry

Steel carburetor

In the process of steel smelting, you can use graphite powder as a steel carburetor. In steelmaking, molten steel often contains excessive oxygen. This will seriously affect the quality of steel, such as reducing the toughness of steel, increasing brittleness and so on. The graphite powder can chemically react with the oxygen in the molten steel to play the role of deoxidation. So as to effectively improve the quality of steel, optimize the performance indicators such as strength, toughness and ductility.

Graphite powder used for refractory additives

Graphite powder is also widely used as a refractory additive. Due to its excellent high temperature resistance, it can withstand extremely high temperatures without melting and decomposition. When added to refractory materials such as refractory bricks, refractory castables, etc., it can significantly enhance the fire resistance of these materials. So that it can maintain the integrity and stability of the structure in a high temperature environment. And it will greatly extend the service life of refractory materials.

Machinery Industry

Uses of graphite powder in dry lubricant

Graphite powder is an ideal solid dry lubricant. During mechanical operation, friction occurs between many parts. And the layered structure of the graphite powder enables it to form a continuous lubricating film on the friction surface. This film can effectively reduce the coefficient of friction, reduce the wear of parts. And it can normally play a lubricating role in high temperature, high pressure and other harsh working conditions.

Casting surface layer

In the casting process, graphite powder is applied to the casting surface layer. When making the mold, the graphite powder is evenly coated on the inner surface of the mold, which can make the casting easier to release after forming. At the same time, it can also make the surface of the casting more smooth and flat. And reduce the subsequent processing allowance and processing procedures, improve production efficiency and reduce production costs. In addition, the graphite powder can also play a certain heat insulation role in the casting process. This helps to control the solidification rate of the casting and improve the quality and yield of the casting.

Graphite powder uses in chemical Industry

Catalyst carrier

Graphite powder has a large specific surface area and good adsorption properties, which makes it an excellent catalyst carrier. In many chemical reactions, the active components of the catalyst need to be evenly dispersed on the support to improve the activity and selectivity of the catalyst. Graphite powder can well meet this requirement, loading the active ingredients of the catalyst on its surface, providing more active sites for the chemical reaction. Thus it promotes the reaction.

Electrode materials

Graphite powder itself is also an important electrode material. In the electrochemical industry, such as the electrode manufacturing of electrolytic cells, électrodes en graphite are widely used because of their good electrical conductivity and chemical stability. In the electrolysis process, the graphite electrode can conduct the current stably to ensure the smooth progress of the electrolytic reaction.

Electronic and electrical applications

Conductive Materials

Conductive ink for printed circuit board (PCB)

In the electronics industry, the printed circuit board (PCB) is one of the core components of electronic products. You can use graphite powder to prepare conductive inks for printed circuit boards. This conductive ink uses graphite powder as the main conductive component and forms an accurate conductive circuit pattern on the circuit board through the printing process. It can achieve good printing and conductive properties on various substrates of different materials. And it provides strong support for the high-density integration and multi-functional of electronic products.

Conductive coating

You can also use graphite powder to prepare conductive coatings. The graphite powder is mixed with appropriate resins, solvents, etc.. And it is coated on a variety of base materials, such as plastics, glass, metal, etc., to form a coating with good electrical conductivity. In addition, the conductive coating can also be applied to the field of anti-static electricity, such as anti-static packaging materials, anti-static flooring, etc., to prevent damage to electronic components caused by static electricity.

Manufacture of electronic components

Resistors

In the manufacture of electronic components, graphite powder can be used to make resistors. The resistance value of the resistor can be adjusted by precisely controlling the particle size, purity, addition amount and ratio with other materials of the graphite powder. It can provide accurate resistance values for these circuits to ensure the normal operation of the circuit and the accurate transmission of the signal.

Graphite electrode (for electronic device processing)

Graphite electrodes play an important role in the machining of electronic devices, especially in electric discharge machining (EDM) technology. Graphite electrode has become a common electrode material in EDM because of its high melting point, good electrical conductivity and low loss. In the process of processing, the pulse discharge is generated between the graphite electrode and the workpiece. And the instantaneous high temperature makes the workpiece material melt and vaporize, so as to realize the precise processing of the complex shape workpiece.

Energy applications

Fuel Cell

Bipolar plate material

In fuel cell technology, you can use graphite powder as a bipolar plate material. Graphite powder based bipolar plate has good electrical conductivity, high chemical stability and excellent gas sealing property. Its good electrical conductivity can ensure the efficient transmission of electrons in the fuel cell and reduce the ohmic loss; Chemical stability enables it to work stably for a long time in the complex chemical reaction environment of the fuel cell and resist the corrosion of acid, alkali and other media; The gas seal ensures that the fuel and oxidizer flow in their respective flow channels without leakage and mixing.

Graphite powder uses in lithium-ion batteries

Negative electrode material

Graphite powder is one of the most widely used anode materials in lithium-ion batteries. Graphite has a typical layered structure with moderate layer spacing. This can reversibly accommodate the insertion and removal of lithium ions. At the same time, the graphite anode material has the advantages of stable charging and discharging potential platform, good cycling performance and relatively low cost. In commercial lithium-ion batteries, graphite anode materials provide stable electrochemical performance and long service life. It meets the requirements of modern portable electronic devices and electric vehicles for battery energy density, power density and cycle life.

Conductive additives

Graphite powder is often used as a conductive additive in lithium-ion batteries. In the electrode preparation process of lithium-ion batteries, the addition of graphite powder to the positive or negative electrode material can significantly improve the electronic conductivity of the electrode material. Because the electrode reaction of lithium-ion batteries requires the rapid transmission of electrons. The addition of graphite powder can build a good conductive network between the active material particles, reduce the polarization resistance of the electrode. And thus improve the charge and discharge efficiency, rate performance and cycle life of the battery.

Use in other fields

Environmental Protection

Sewage treatment adsorbent

Graphite powder has an important application in the field of environmental protection in sewage treatment. Because of its large specific surface area and rich pore structure, it has good adsorption capacity for many pollutants in sewage. For heavy metal ions in sewage, graphite powder can be adsorbed on the surface through electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, etc.. So as to reduce the heavy metal content in sewage and achieve the purpose of purifying water quality. At the same time, for some organic pollutants, such as dyes, pesticides, phenolic compounds, etc., you can also remove graphite powder effectively by a combination of physical adsorption and chemical adsorption.

Control of air pollution

In the control of air pollution, graphite powder also plays a certain role. In some industrial waste gas treatment processes, you can use graphite powder as an adsorbent or catalyst carrier to participate in the reaction. For harmful gases in the atmosphere, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), etc., graphite powder can be separated from exhaust gas through adsorption. This reduces the amount of its emissions to the atmosphere. At the same time, when the graphite powder is loaded with a specific catalyst active group, it can also catalyze the conversion of these harmful gases under certain conditions. So that it can be converted into harmless substances or compounds that are easier to handle.

Reinforcement Materials

Polymer matrix composites

In the field of reinforcement materials, graphite powder can be used to prepare polymer matrix composites. Adding graphite powder to polymer matrix, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, epoxy resin, etc., can significantly improve the properties of composite materials. At the same time, it can also enhance the mechanical properties of composite materials. Such as strength, stiffness and wear resistance. Because the flake structure of graphite powder can play the role of strengthening and filling in the polymer matrix, hinder the expansion of cracks, so that the composite material can withstand greater external forces and extend its service life.

Metal matrix composite materials

You can also use graphite powder to prepare metal matrix composites. The friction and wear properties and self-lubricating properties of metal materials can be improved by introducing graphite powder into metal matrix. For example, in aluminum base, copper base and other metal matrix composite materials, graphite powder will form a layer of lubricating film on the metal surface during the friction process. This reduces the friction coefficient, reduces wear, and improves the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the material.

3D printing field

In 3D printing materials, you can use graphite powder as an additive or reinforcement phase. Adding graphite powder to plastic-based 3D printing materials can improve the electrical and thermal conductivity of the material. So that it can be used to manufacture 3D printed parts with electromagnetic shielding function, such as electronic equipment shells, shielding covers, etc.. To meet the needs of electronic equipment to work normally in a complex electromagnetic environment.

Making Pencils

One of the most well-known uses of graphite powder is to make pencils. The main composition of pencil lead is a mixture of graphite powder and additives such as clay. Graphite powder soft texture, with good lubricity and coloring ability. In the writing process, it can easily leave clear and lasting marks on the paper. By adjusting the ratio of graphite powder to clay, the hardness and blackness of the pencil lead can be changed to meet different writing and painting needs.

Conclusion

From traditional industries to emerging technology fields, graphite powder can meet material performance requirements. With the development of science and technology, the application prospect of graphite powder is broader, and it is expected to help materials science and social development to a new height.