Theoretical model and experimental study of pore growth during thermal expansion of graphite intercalation compounds

A new technique, which allows one to simultaneously follow the mass and volume of graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) during thermal transformation into expanded graphite, was developed. This enabled us to elucidate the mechanism for the thermal expansion of GICs and formulate a quantitative model for the process. Effective activation parameters of the thermal decomposition of new GICs were obtained by using non-isothermal kinetics procedure. Thermal decomposition was described as a break of intermolecular bonds followed by diffusion.