Owing to high-efficiency and scalable advantages of electrolysis in molten salts, electrochemical conversion of carbonaceous resources into graphitic products is a sustainable route for achieving high value-added carbon. To understand the complicated kinetics of converting amorphous carbon (e.g. carbonized lignin-biochar) into highly graphitic carbon, herein this study reports the key processing parameters (addition of Ni, temperature and time) and multi-scale approach of nickel-boosted electrochemical graphitization-catalysis processes in molten calcium chloride. Upon both experiments and modellings, multi-scale analysis that ranges from nanoscale atomic reaction to macroscale cell reveal the multi-field evolution in the electrolysis cell, mechanism of electrochemical reaction kinetics as well as pathway of nickel-boosted graphitization and tubulization. The results of as-achieved controllable processing regions and multi-scale approaches provide a rational strategy of manipulating electrochemical graphitization processes and utilizing the converted biomass resources for high value-added use.
Keywords: Electrochemical Conversion; Electrolysis; Molten Salt; Multi-Scale Approach; Potassium-Ion Batteries.
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