Pyrolysis processes graphitization

The carbon-hydrogen bond plays as important part in the mechanism of pyrolysis of carbon compounds and in the formation of graphite and diamond (the pyrolysis process is reviewed in Ch. 4). 

Of the many forms of carbon and graphite produced commercially, only pyrolytic graphite (8,9) is produced from the gas phase via the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons. The process for making pyrolytic graphite is referred to as the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Deposition occurs on some suitable substrate, usually graphite, that is heated at high temperatures, usually in excess of 1000°C, in the presence of a hydrocarbon, eg, methane, propane, acetjiene, or benzene. 

Boron-containing carbons synthesized by co-pyrolysis of coal-tar pitch with pyridine-borane complex (series 25Bn) have already been considered as hosts for lithium insertion [4], Unlike the commercial graphites described above, the boron-doped carbon 25B2 (WUT) as received was not suitable for direct use in the cylindrical cell due to very large and hard particles. This feature makes the coating process very difficult. 

It is known that some spinel-structured 3d-metal oxides are good catalysts for many processes involving electron transfer [12]. However, their low conductivity does not allow for the direct use in the electrode of the battery, and grafting them onto the carbon matrix is also very difficult technical problem. It was found recently that this problem could be solved indirectly, creating the spinel catalytic centers on the surface of carbon by means of adsorption of some 3d-metal complexes on the graphite surface followed by subsequent pyrolysis at certain temperatures [13,14],... 

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