Production of Bioderived Graphitizable Materials by Alternative Catalytic Processing: Technoeconomic Assessment and Upscaling Insights

In this work, we examine the production of bioderived graphitizable materials through a catalytic graphitization approach utilizing biomass precursors. The objective is to establish a sustainable and economically feasible process that matches conventional methodologies, including the Acheson process, natural graphite extraction, and electrochemical approaches. The research integrates experimental evaluations with techno-economic analyses to juxtapose the uncatalyzed and catalyzed methodologies, examine the scalability from laboratory to industrial production, and assess the overall environmental impact. The findings demonstrate that the catalytic process markedly enhances the yield by up to 30%, diminishes energy consumption, and exhibits desirable cost efficiency. Furthermore, the graphitic carbon generated possesses a degree of graphitization approximating 0.81, along with a d-spacing of 0.33869 nm of the graphitic planes. A comprehensive characterization of biographite (BG) revealed the successful development of high-quality graphitic domains. The catalytic process facilitates relatively rapid graphitization accompanied by a significant reduction in total energy requirements. Noteworthy that although issues pertaining to yield consistency and scalability persist, the study concludes that with further optimization of the process and pilot-scale experimentation, biomass catalytic graphitization possesses considerable potential to meet the increasing demand for sustainable graphite materials in sectors such as energy storage and electronics.