Direct Use of Lignite in a Composite as a Lithium-Ion Battery Anode Active Material

The United States faces a pressing need to transition to a clean energy economy, driving increased demand for lithium-ion batteries in applications such as electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage. This transition is hampered by a reliance on graphite for the fabrication of battery anodes. A substantial gap is forecast between graphite demand and current global production capacity: up to an 822% shortfall by 2035. Cost-effective, high-performance alternatives to this critical material are sorely needed. The main goal of Phase I is to develop and assess composite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, specifically focusing on the use of a silicon oxycarbide preceramic polymer resin combined with North Dakota lignite coal fines at a high loading of over 50% coal by weight. Ultimately, the project aims to provide a composite anode active material that has a reversible specific capacity exceeding that of battery-grade natural graphite. For Phase I, initial laboratory work that has been done with these materials will be expanded with the goal of demonstrating a composite anode active material that contains more than 50% lignite in an industrially relevant capacity and form factor. Various lignite coals or lignite coal wastes will be sourced and tested along with variations of the baseline process to arrive at the best- performing formulation. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique, half- and full-coin cells will be fabricated using composite anodes, and these will be subjected to in-house and independent testing. Larger format cells with capacities above 250 mAh will then be produced for demonstration and testing. Technical and cost comparisons with existing commercial specifications and standards will be evaluated and used to further guide the investigations. A key part of the Phase I work is the production of preliminary techno-economic and life-cycle analyses to show that the composite anode material has the potential for commercialization. The primary benefit of this work is that it can help to establish a viable alternative to foreign-sourced anode materials. The ability to use lignitic coal, an abundant domestic resource, as a substitute or supplement for graphite, a critical material in which foreign sources dominate the market, can be a key enabler for the United States to move toward cleaner energy. The resulting high-value market application for lignitic coal could contribute to sustaining coal mining jobs and their communities while also providing the potential of additional high-paying jobs related to the engineering, manufacturing, and production of composite anode active materials.