Albany Graphite, a subsidiary of Canadian intellectual property (IP) development and commercialization company Zentek, has reported near-theoretical anode performance in independent lithium-ion battery testing using its ultra-high-purity graphite.
In four industry-standard coin cell tests, Albany’s carbon-coated, spheroidized graphite delivered an average reversible capacity of approximately 367 mAh/g, just 1.3% below the theoretical maximum for natural graphite of 372 mAh/g, Zentek said.
The material demonstrated stable performance over approximately 110 cycles as a conductive additive and 110-120 cycles as the main anode active material. There were no cell failures and irreversible capacity loss was between approximately 7.0% and 8.3%. Average capacity retention was above 94% versus the Li/Li⁺ counter electrode, indicating that the graphite can withstand repeated charging with limited degradation, which is an important requirement for commercial battery production.
Rejects from the high-purity spheroidization process were blended 50/50 with NMC622 cathode active material as a conductive additive, enabling nearly full use of the graphite produced. Using this by-product increases material yield, supporting more cost-efficient and sustainable production of battery-grade graphite.
All tests were conducted at a C10 charge-discharge rate and at electrode loadings near 10 mg/cm², which are commonly used in evaluating graphite anode materials, Zentek said.
Running at these conditions helps ensure that the results are relevant to commercial cell designs and provides partners and investors with a realistic indication of how Albany graphite may perform when scaled up.
The results indicate that Albany’s graphite has the potential to serve as a natural graphite anode material for lithium-ion batteries, supporting Zentek’s strategy to build a value-added position in the North American battery supply chain.
The Albany Graphite Project is an igneous-hosted, fluid-derived graphite deposit in Ontario at an advanced exploration stage. The company received a grant of $500,000 from the Ontario Government’s Critical Minerals Innovation Fund (CMIF) for the project last year.
Preliminary coin cell cycling tests suggest that unoptimized Albany anode material could potentially deliver the benefits of the long-term stability of synthetic graphite, while maintaining the near-theoretical capacity available from a natural graphite.
“Achieving near-theoretical performance under industry-standard conditions is a testament to the quality of the Albany material. These results strengthen our value proposition for battery manufacturers seeking high-performance, sustainable graphite solutions,” said Mohammed (Moe) Jiwan, CEO of Zentek.
Source: Zentek
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