Improving cycle life and rate capability of artificial graphite anode for lithium-ion batteries by agglomeration

For lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the cycle life and rate capability are of great importance to make practical use in electric vehicles (EVs). Therefore, it is essential to develop anode materials with excellent cycle life and superior rate capability. In this work, agglomerated graphite (AG) was prepared by agglomerating small-sized coke particles into big particles and subsequent graphitization. The obtained AG exhibits much-improved cycle life and rate capability for LIBs in comparison with pristine graphite (PG). Meanwhile, orientation intensity, which is defined as the ratio of (0 0 4) peak intensity to (1 1 0) peak intensity in graphite anode plates X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), is proposed to evaluate the cycle performance and rate capability of graphite for LIBs.