What is Flake Graphite?
Flake graphite is a mineral form of graphite that occurs naturally in flakes or thin plates. It is mined primarily to manufacture electrodes, refractories, lubricants, sealing gaskets, and other industrial components. The individual flakes or particles are flat, platy accumulations of graphite crystals. Its deposits form through metamorphism of carbon-bearing sediments like coal.
Uses
As an Industrial Material
It is widely used as an industrial material due to its unique combination of properties such as heat resistance, chemical inertness, lubrication, and electrical conductivity. It is mostly used as refractory material in steel and aluminum smelting and magnesium die casting industries. It provides mechanical, thermal, and chemical stability at high temperatures in these processes. The flakes also act as a lubricating medium during die casting and forging applications.
In Batteries
It is one of the chief materials used in lead acid batteries. Due to its high strength and conductivity, Flake graphite is used extensively as electrodes in both automotive and industrial lead acid batteries. It aids in efficient current flow during charging and discharging of the batteries. Recently, graphite demand has grown considerably owing to its use in lithium-ion battery anodes. The flakes effectively store lithium ions and improve battery performance and life cycle.
As a Lubricant
Dry lubrication using it has become more prevalent than liquid or grease lubricants in various industrial applications. Finely powdered graphite particles act as solid lubricants between sliding or rolling surfaces. They reduce friction and prevent seizure, scuffing, and wear even at high loads and temperatures. It is widely used as a dry lubricant in many mechanical seals, brake linings, and gaskets in industrial machinery.
Properties
High Thermal Stability
Its layered structure composed of hexagonally bonded carbon atoms gives it extraordinary thermal properties. The individual planar sheets allow for easy planar sliding even at high temperatures. As a result, natural graphite is stable up to 2800°C in air and 3500°C in inert environments. This makes it suitable for applications involving high thermal stresses.
Self-Lubrication
The layered plate-like morphology of its sheets provides inherent dry lubrication capabilities. The individual graphene layers tend to flow over one another easily, reducing friction between surfaces. This self-lubricating property gives natural flake graphite an advantage over other solid lubricants. It needs no oils or greases and works efficiently even under extreme loads and pressures.
Electrical Conductivity
The carbon atoms are arranged in graphene sheets parallel to the basal planes in flake graphite. Electrons and holes can easily migrate within these planes, making graphite an electrically conductive material. It conducts heat and electricity efficiently along the plane of the graphene layers. This conductivity property renders it useful for electrodes, brushes and lubrication under electrical loads.
Chemical Inertness
Graphite is one of the most chemically inert materials. The strong bonds between carbon atoms give it resilience against corrosion or oxidation when exposed to heat, air, water and most acids or alkalis. This inertness along with high thermal stability permits applications in harsh chemical process environments. Fine flake graphite is highly resistant to acids, bases, molten salts and metal vapors.
Production and Reserves
It occurs primarily in metamorphic rock terrains containing carbonate minerals or graphitic schist formations. The largest producers of natural graphite today are China, Brazil, North Korea and India. Madagascar and Mozambique also have significant reserves of high-quality graphite.
Mining generally involves open pit or underground operations to extract the graphite-bearing rock. The rock is then crushed and ground to fine particles. Various physical separation methods like flotation, washing, sieving and air separation are applied to purify and separate the flakes based on their size, shape and density. The purified flakes are later sorted into different particle size fractions depending on their end use.
It continues to hold relevance in traditional refractory and lubrication applications. Newer uses in Li-ion batteries and other energy storage technologies are also driving phenomenal demand growth. Though natural graphite mining faces environmental challenges and supply risks; optimization of resources and recycling can help sustain future industrial needs for this remarkable industrial mineral.
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