Graphite
22-10-2023
03:50 PM
1 min read
Overview:
Recently, China has unveiled plans to restrict exports of graphite — a mineral crucial to the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) — on national security grounds.
About Graphite
- It is an opaque, non-metallic carbon polymorph that is blackish silver in colour and metallic to dull in sheen.
- Since it resembles the metal lead, it is also known colloquially as black lead or plumbago.
- It is formed by the metamorphosis of sediments containing carbonaceous material.
- It is a naturally occurring form of crystalline carbon.
- It is extremely soft, cleaves with very light pressure, and has a very low specific gravity.
- In contrast, it is extremely resistant to heat and nearly inert in contact with almost any other material.
- These extreme properties give it a wide range of uses in metallurgy and manufacturing.
- Molecular structure
- It consists of a ring of six carbon atoms closely bonded together hexagonally in widely spaced layers.
- The bonds within the layers are strong but the bonds between the layers are less in number and therefore are weaker.
- Graphite is the stable form of carbon.
- Applications: It is used in pencils, lubricants, crucibles, foundry facings, polishes, arc lamps, batteries, brushes for electric motors, and cores of nuclear reactors.
- It is mined extensively in China, India, Brazil, North Korea, and Canada.
Q1) What is Metal?
Metals are a class of chemical elements characterized by their distinctive physical and chemical properties. These properties make them essential in various industrial, technological, and everyday applications.
Source: China restricts exports of graphite as it escalates a global tech war