Abstract:
Graphite, a strategic non-metallic mineral resource, has excellent performance, such as electricity, heat resistance, good toughness, corrosion resistance, strong plasticity, good lubrication. It has been widely used in traditional industrial fields such as sealing, casting, fireproof materials, and conductive materials. They are also called as “industrial black gold” because of its prospective applications in growing industries such as new energy, electronic information technology, and high-end equipment technology. Despite China’s enormous graphite resources, there is still a significant difference between graphite deep processing goods and those produced in other nations due to the technological limitations of graphite purification. The better the purity of graphite materials, the greater their application value. Therefore, research effective and energy-saving graphite purification technologies is very important for the development of graphite industry. Graphite purification processes are typically classified as physical or chemical. Physical purification includes flotation and high-temperature method, while chemical purification processes include hydrofluoric acid method, alkali acid processing method and chlorination roasting method. This paper mainly introduced the research progress of different graphite purification processes, including the principles of purification process and purification equipments, and analyzes the advantages and existing problems of different methods. The future research direction will mainly focus on optimizing the process and purification equipment, using multiple methods in combination, and developing the new methods.