Graphite microcrystals growth in naturally graphitized coal from Hunan, China

Abstract

The transformation of coal to graphite is a process through which carbon atoms are arranged from amorphous into a crystalline form. However, there is still no study focusing on how the graphite single crystal grow up in graphitized coals during natural graphitization. Herein, a series of naturally graphitized coals were thoroughly studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to uncover the morphological and atomic structural evolution from anthracite to coaly graphite. The anthracite and meta-anthracite samples showed an amorphous carbon structure, whereas the carbon arrangement becomes more and more orderly from semi-graphite to coaly graphite as confirmed by XRD. The crushed particles of anthracite and meta-anthracite show granular and tabular texture with uneven surface under SEM. Small layered graphite flake appears from semi-graphite stage with co-occurrence of dense coal particles, HRTEM data shows the layered graphite flakes are the single graphite crystals. Almost all the dense coal particles change into layered microcrystalline graphite in the most graphitized coals (coaly graphite), and the flaky graphite microcrystals always show up as aggregates. The results will benefit the future applications of the naturally graphitized coals.