Northern Graphite launches €1.7M German‑funded graphite R&D program
- Total program budget €1.70 million, with €1.14 million funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
- Three-year program running 1 Jan 2026–31 Dec 2029 to develop cleaner, European graphite processing and recycling routes.
- Partners: Northern Graphite (supplying natural graphite from Canada and Namibia), Rain Carbon Germany, H.C. Starck Tungsten and Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
- Technical focus: chlorine‑gas purification as an HF‑free route, sustainable carbon coatings to replace coal tar, and recovery of graphite from battery black mass.
Program overview
USE‑G is a three‑year R&D program (1 Jan 2026–31 Dec 2029) with a total budget of €1.70 million, of which the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy provides €1.14 million. The initiative aims to develop a fully European graphite processing route for lithium‑ion battery anodes that is cleaner, less energy intensive and independent of Chinese processing technologies.
Technical approach
Key technical workstreams include purification of natural graphite without hydrofluoric acid using chlorine gas at elevated temperatures, development of sustainable carbon coating materials as alternatives to coal tar, and extraction/purification of graphite from the black mass produced in battery recycling.
Roles and partners
Northern Graphite will supply natural graphite from its Canadian mine and its care‑and‑maintenance Namibian mine, and will perform milling, shaping and final battery testing in Germany. H.C. Starck Tungsten will apply its black‑mass recycling technology to recover graphite for re‑entry to the supply chain. Friedrich Schiller University Jena will lead the chlorine‑gas purification research. Rain will develop new carbon coating materials and coating processes.
Objectives and execution
Work will be carried out in Germany, starting with separate processing of natural and recycled graphite to set baselines, then assessing blended anode materials with the goal of producing a European‑qualified battery anode material and a complete, European‑controlled processing flowsheet.
Source: Rain Carbon Inc.
