Research Symposium-2011

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Browsing Research Symposium-2011 by Author "Amaraweera, G."

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    Investigation of Electrical Properties in Different Structural Varieties of Sri Lankan Graphite
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2011) Thusyanthy, C.; Amaraweera, G.; Attanayake, N.; Wijayasinghe, A.
    Note: See the PDF Version Graphite is a crystalline polymorphic form of elementary carbon and it consists of parallel sheets of carbon in a hexagonal arrangement. Graphite is a soft mineral with black lead streak having a metallic luster. Sri Lanka is the world's only significant source of crystalline vein graphite. It is very popular all over the world for its high purity and its high carbon content graphite (97-99%) (Herath, 1995). Sri Lankan natural graphite is exported as a cheap raw material and the only local graphite based industry is the pencil industry. Sri Lankan natural vein graphite is found in various morphologies with different structural and physical characteristics (Balasooriya and Bandaranayake, 2010). Four common morphologies of vein graphite have been identified from the Bogala and Kahatagaha-Kolongaha mines. They are coarse flakes of radial graphite, coarse striated-flaky graphite, needle platy graphite and shiny-slippery-fibrous graphite. Natural graphite is a host material for lithium intercalation and there is a potential of using it as an active anode material for the rechargeable lithium cells. Among the requirements to be such an active anode material, electrical conductivity is a main factor and the candidate material should possess sufficient conductivity in the order of around 102 Scnil at operating temperature to support the anode function (Pushpaka et al, 2008). Further, there is only very limited work reported on morphology and structural characteristics of Sri Lankan natural graphite. Any information on the electrical behavior of them, specially the electrical conductivity, has not yet been reported elsewhere. By considering these factors, this study was performed to identify suitable verities of Sri Lankan graphite based on their electrical conductivity.