Reduction of Copper Intercalated Graphite

1. Introduction: • Material desired with adequate wear properties as well as electrical conductivity • Graphite chosen as solvent and copper as solute • Mixture of powders processed in furnace for CuCl2/C intercalation • Chemical reduction performed using hydrogen gas at varying temperatures • Outcome of heating cycles analyzed using TGA, SEM, and XRD Reduction of Copper Intercalated Graphite Wyatt Hereford University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Materials Engineering Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ben Church 2HCl Gas Key =Hydrogen =Chlorine = Copper = Graphite H2Gas Figure 1: Mixture to Intercalation to Reduction H2 Gas

2. Results Initial Condition 650°C Figure 2: SEM Images at 1000x Magnification Figure 3: Atomic Percent Cl and Cu for Heat Cycles Figure 4: XRD Peaks for Heat Cycles

3. Conclusion • Results show that the CuCl2 stage-1 intercalation compound can only handle temperatures up to 425°C where it will begin to reduce further • At 500°C there is a heavy presence of only CuCl • At 600°C and beyond the sample includes both CuCl and Cu • Future work is needed to include a compound of only Cu as well as to keep Cu inside the intercalation sites