Electrochemical Intercalation of Alkali Metal Ions into Graphite

Abstract

The cyclic voltammograms of the graphite in LiClO4-DMSO, NaClO4-DMSO, KClO4-DMSO and RbClO4-DMSO solutions showed the cathodic current and the anodic current peaks corresponding to the intercalation and deintercalation processes of alkali metal ions, respectively. The x-ray diffraction patterns indicated the formation of the second stage intercalation compounds due to the cathodic reduction (electrode potential: 2.5V vs. SCE, electric quantity: 40 C) of graphite in each solution. The change of the electrode potential with time after cathodic reduction showed less self-discharge of K+-compound than other compounds.