Issue 40, 2023

Electrochemical intercalation of rubidium into graphite, hard carbon, and soft carbon

Abstract

The electrochemical insertion of Rb into carbonaceous materials, including graphite, was achieved herein. Rubidium ions were reversibly inserted into and extracted from graphite via electrochemical processes using different non-aqueous electrolytes containing rubidium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (RbTFSA) salts in carbonate esters, glymes, and ionic liquids, similar to the process used for other lighter alkali metal ions such as Li+ and K+. The chemical compositions of the rubidiated graphite were determined to be RbC8, RbC24, and RbC36 at each step of the electrochemical reduction process. Graphite underwent a phase transition to RbC8 exhibiting a stage-1 structure, with stage-3 RbC36 and stage-2 RbC24 as intermediates, as confirmed by ex situ and in situ X-ray diffraction and ex situ Raman spectroscopy, similar to the electrochemical phase evolution of staged potassium graphite intercalation compounds (K-GICs). Furthermore, Rb was reversibly inserted into and extracted from graphitizable and non-graphitizable carbons such as pitch-derived soft carbon and commercial hard carbon, along with other alkali metals such as Li, Na, and K.

Graphical abstract: Electrochemical intercalation of rubidium into graphite, hard carbon, and soft carbon

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
28 6 2023
Accepted
13 9 2023
First published
04 10 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 11056-11066

Electrochemical intercalation of rubidium into graphite, hard carbon, and soft carbon

D. Igarashi, R. Tatara, R. Fujimoto, T. Hosaka and S. Komaba, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 11056 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC03281G

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