The increasing graphite demand for energy storage confronts
a significant
hurdle: a dwindling supply of high-quality precursors. This study
introduces a simple additive upgradation strategy, exploring the potential
of waste plastics and lower-quality aliphatic pitches to improve scant
high-aromaticity pitch precursors by providing donatable hydrogen.
The results indicate not only that high-quality aromatic pitches can
accommodate waste plastics and lower-quality aliphatic pitches but
also that their synergistic composition leads to improved graphitic
quality and a uniform crystalline phase in the heat-treated products.
Optimal aromaticity values have been investigated through a graphitization
study of diverse pitch samples. Additionally, the effectiveness of
quinoline insoluble removal as a subtractive strategy on crystallite
sizes after graphitization was investigated, and remarkable improvements
were observed in the crystallite sizes of the graphitized product.