Highly porous expanded graphite was synthesized by the programmable heating technique using heating with a constant rate (20 °C/min) from room temperature to 400-700 °C. The samples obtained were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry. A comparison between programmable heating and thermal shock as methods of producing expanded graphite showed efficiency of the first one at a temperature 400 °C, and the surface area reached 699 and 184 m2/g, respectively. The proposed technique made it possible to obtain a relatively higher yield of expanded graphite (78-90%) from intercalated graphite. The experiments showed the advantages of programmable heating in terms of its flexibility and the possibility to manage the textural properties, yield, disorder degree, and bulk density of expanded graphite.
Keywords: expanded graphite; graphite; heating; porosity; surface area; textural characteristics; thermal analysis; thermal shock.