What is the difference between natural graphite and artificial graphite?

Diamonds are forever, Gold is precious but which is rarer? Gold is a heavy metal formed during the collision of neutron stars and is one of the rarest elements on Earth.During the formation of the earth, heavy elements gradually accumulated towards the core under the influence of the earth's gravitational force. This means that the closer you get to the Earth's crust, the harder it is to find large quantities of gold.The average concentration of gold in Earth's crust is "very, very low" at just 4 parts per billion. Gold concentrations need to be 1,250 times that level to form a market-worthy deposit.
Diamond is a common element - the product formed by carbon under extremely high pressure, and it is a dense carbon element. Carbon also has a looser element called graphite, which is what makes pencil lead. Compared to gold, the average concentration of carbon in the Earth's crust is about 200,000 parts per billion.
In terms of elements, gold is far rarer than diamonds. Due to the predictable and volatile nature of gold, the natural graphite is undoubtedly a good investment opportunity.

Given that what is prepared from natural graphite is usually artificial graphite in the narrow sense, this paper will only analyze and discuss the differences and links between natural graphite and artificial graphite in the narrow sense.

Crystal structure

The crystal development of natural graphite is relatively complete, the graphitization degree of natural flake graphite is usually above 98%, and the graphitization degree of natural microcrystalline graphite is usually below 93%.

The degree of crystal development of artificial graphite depends on the raw material and the heat treatment temperature. Generally speaking, the higher the heat treatment temperature, the higher the degree of graphitization. At present, the degree of graphitization of artificial graphite produced in the industry is usually less than 90%.

Organizational structure

Natural flake graphite is a single crystal with a relatively simple structure, with only crystallographic defects (point defects, dislocations, stacking faults, etc.), and macroscopically showing anisotropic structural characteristics. The grains of natural microcrystalline graphite are small, the grains are disorderly arranged, and there are pores after the impurities are removed, showing the isotropic structural characteristics on the macroscopic level.

Artificial graphite can be seen as a multi-phase material consisting of a graphite phase transformed by carbonaceous particles such as petroleum coke or pitch coke, a graphite phase transformed by a coal bitumen binder encapsulated around the particles, particle accumulation, or pores formed after heat treatment of coal tar binder, etc.

Physical form

Natural graphite usually exists in powder form and can be used alone, but is usually used in combination with other materials.

There are many forms of artificial graphite, including powder, fiber, and block, while artificial graphite in the narrow sense is usually blocked, which needs to be processed into a certain shape when used.

Physical and chemical properties

Natural graphite and artificial graphite have both commonalities and differences in performance. For example, both natural graphite and artificial graphite are good conductors of heat and electricity, but for graphite powders of the same purity and particle size, natural flake graphite has the best heat transfer performance and electrical conductivity, followed by natural microcrystalline graphite and artificial graphite the lowest.

Graphite has good lubricity and certain plasticity. Natural flake graphite has better crystal development, smaller friction coefficient, best lubricity, and highest plasticity, while dense crystalline graphite and cryptocrystalline graphite are second, and artificial graphite is worse.

High quality graphite manufacturer

Luoyang Moon & Star New Energy Technology Co., LTD, founded on October 17, 2008, is a high-tech enterprise committed to the research and development, production, processing, sales and technical services of lithium ion battery anode materials. After more than 10 years of development, the company has gradually developed into a diversified product structure with natural graphite, artificial graphite, composite graphite, intermediate phase and other negative materials (silicon carbon materials, etc.). The products are widely used in high-end lithium ion digital, power and energy storage batteries.

If you are looking for graphite or lithium battery anode material, click on the needed products and send us an inquiry：sales@graphite-corp.com

At a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on March 31, a media question was raised: The COVID-19 outbreak has led to the shutdown of production in many parts of China. What impact will it have on China's foreign trade enterprises as a whole and micro, small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises?

In this regard, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce said that the Ministry is closely following the impact of the epidemic on foreign trade enterprises, especially small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises. As far as we can see, some foreign trade enterprises are affected by the epidemic and are faced with periodic problems in production and operation, logistics and transportation. At the same time, problems such as rising raw material costs, slow cross-border shipping and supply chain bottlenecks have yet to be fundamentally alleviated, and foreign trade enterprises, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, still face considerable operating pressure. The price of natural graphite operated by foreign trade enterprises will also fluctuate with the changes of the epidemic. Contact us for the latest quotation on natural graphite.

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