COMPOSITION OF MATTER FOR THE PRODUCTION OF GRAPHITE POWDER

The present invention relates to a composition of matter for the production of a graphite powder, suitable for making high performance lithium-ion battery anodes and other applications. The composition of matter comprises a biochar, a metal and graphite. The biochar is typically derived from the pyrolysis of woody biomass. The metal is typically a transition metal derived from the decomposition and reduction of an organic or inorganic metallic compound. The graphite is highly crystalline and has a wide range of morphologies or structures. To produce the composite of interest, the required precursors (biochar and the metallic compound) are mixed and subjected to a heat treatment. The resulting well-defined composite may then be subjected to other post-processing steps to yield the final graphite powder. The resulting graphite powder has numerous industrial applications, most notably in, but not limited to, high performance lithium-ion battery anodes.