LAUSR

Abstract Slurry oil (SO) as the starting feedstock for the preparation of mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs), an excellent carbonaceous anode material, is of significant commercial value and environmentally friendly. In this study, the MCMBs were prepared by thermal polymerization of SO after modification through suspended-bed hydrofining followed by distillation (SBHD). The results showed that SBHD is fully competent in saturating olefins and increasing naphthenes of SO simultaneously and thus bringing forth more naphthenic hydrocarbons and less olefins in SBHD-SO, which is indeed beneficial to the preparation of MCMBs with better morphology and more uniform size distribution. More interestingly, there was evident coalescence between MCMBs prepared from D-SO during the growth process due to the existence of abundant active groups on the MCMBs’ surfaces, whereas the MCMBs prepared from SBHD-SO grew via absorbing the mesogen molecules in the mother liquor and there was no obvious coalescence between mesophase spheres. Moreover, the anode performance showed that the MCMBs prepared from SBHD-SO can deliver the highest discharge specific capacity of 315 mAh/g at a current density of 500 mA/g and an excellent stability of cycle performance. Thereby, the MCMBs prepared from SBHD-SO best meet the application requirements. This study paves a new strategy for the efficient preparation of MCMBs by using SO, which may expand the application prospect of SO.