Guides
Plain answers to the questions we hear most: about black mass, battery graphite, activated carbon, graphene and the rules that shape the market.
01Batteries and recyclingBlack mass and white mass: what recycling does with battery graphiteBlack mass is the powder left when spent lithium-ion batteries are shredded. It holds most of a battery's value, and up to 40% of it is graphite that today's refining routes burn or discard. This guide explains what is in it, what happens to it, and why separating the graphite first changes the economics.6 min read
02Batteries and recyclingWhy Europe needs its own graphite, and what EU rules now requireGraphite is the largest single active material in a lithium-ion cell, and almost all battery-grade graphite is made in one country. This guide sets out the supply picture, the export controls that made the risk real, and the three EU laws that now shape the market.5 min read
03Batteries and recyclingWhat makes graphite battery grade, and how a new source gets qualifiedA cell maker does not care where graphite came from, only how it behaves. This guide explains the science behind the specification, from how lithium sits between carbon layers to why surface area decides the first-cycle loss, and then the long path from sample to series production.5 min read04Carbon materialsActivated carbon: pores, ash, and what changes when carbon comes from CO₂Activated carbon is judged by its pores, but what sits inside the carbon matters as much. This guide explains how pores are made and measured, what ash is and why buyers want less of it, and how the source of the carbon, coal, coconut, wood or captured CO₂, shapes both.5 min read
05Carbon materialsFew-layer graphene: what it is, how it is made, and what it is good forGraphene has been called a wonder material since 2004. Few-layer graphene is the version that can be made in tonnes. This guide explains how layers are defined and counted, how graphene is produced, where it already adds value, and where claims run ahead of the evidence.4 min read
06Carbon materialsFrom captured CO₂ to solid carbon: the science, the energy and the limitsTurning CO₂ back into carbon means undoing combustion. This guide explains the thermodynamics, the main routes researchers and companies use, what decides the kind of carbon you get, and what the process can and cannot claim for the climate.4 min read
02Batteries and recyclingWhy Europe needs its own graphite, and what EU rules now requireGraphite is the largest single active material in a lithium-ion cell, and almost all battery-grade graphite is made in one country. This guide sets out the supply picture, the export controls that made the risk real, and the three EU laws that now shape the market.5 min read03Batteries and recyclingWhat makes graphite battery grade, and how a new source gets qualifiedA cell maker does not care where graphite came from, only how it behaves. This guide explains the science behind the specification, from how lithium sits between carbon layers to why surface area decides the first-cycle loss, and then the long path from sample to series production.5 min read04Carbon materialsActivated carbon: pores, ash, and what changes when carbon comes from CO₂Activated carbon is judged by its pores, but what sits inside the carbon matters as much. This guide explains how pores are made and measured, what ash is and why buyers want less of it, and how the source of the carbon, coal, coconut, wood or captured CO₂, shapes both.5 min read05Carbon materialsFew-layer graphene: what it is, how it is made, and what it is good forGraphene has been called a wonder material since 2004. Few-layer graphene is the version that can be made in tonnes. This guide explains how layers are defined and counted, how graphene is produced, where it already adds value, and where claims run ahead of the evidence.4 min read06Carbon materialsFrom captured CO₂ to solid carbon: the science, the energy and the limitsTurning CO₂ back into carbon means undoing combustion. This guide explains the thermodynamics, the main routes researchers and companies use, what decides the kind of carbon you get, and what the process can and cannot claim for the climate.4 min readA question we have not covered?
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