Graphite investors, you need to know about this:--
Warning, mined graphite may reduce drastically in value
19Sep14: from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140917120519.htm
Rios and his colleagues soon realized the lignin fiber's unique structure could make it useful as a battery anode, potentially improving upon graphitic materials found in most lithium-ion batteries. Lignin, a low-cost byproduct of the pulp, paper and biofuels industries, could be transformed into a cheaper version of highly engineered graphite through a simple and industrially scalable manufacturing process. "We start with the fibers when they're in a polymer state and then fuse them together by essentially melting and burning them," Rios said. "Then you have a structure that looks like a mat or piece of paper. You can take this material, place it in a battery and you're done. It's ready to go." Initial testing of the lignin-derived battery showed promising results in terms of capacity and cycling stability, but the researchers wanted to understand how and why the material behaved so differently from other graphites. Rios began collaborating with the University of Tennessee's Computational Materials Group, led by David Keffer, to further examine the fibers' structure and behavior.
