Engineering novel synthetic strategy to develop mesocarbon microbeads for multi-functional applications

To assess the challenge of affordable technology, present synthetic strategies can be extended to new low-cost synthesis and processing methods that have potential to tailor the properties of the materials. Here we report, a novel method for the synthesis of mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) through a preprocessing involved pyrolysis technique. The resulting MCMB is compressed into a product and effects of heat treatment temperature on different properties of MCMB is studied. The use of MCMB for the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is new and hence, the effect of heat treatment temperature on EMI shielding effectiveness is studied in X-band. It is observed that EMI shielding effectiveness increases to -39.6 dB on increasing the heat treatment temperature. The high conductivity of MCMB plate heat treated up to 2500 degrees C contributes to highly conducting networks. Additionally, to investigate the electrochemical performance of MCMB as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, 2500 degrees C heat treated MCMB powder is used to fabricate the electrode. The MCMB electrode exhibits high discharge capacity of 345 mAh g(-1) with a stable capacity for over 50 cycles and good rate capability. Thus, MCMB synthesized by this novel approach can be used for the development of high performance anode materials for Li-ion batteries