** Shares of Novonix rise as much as 16.2% to A$0.680, posting their biggest intraday percentage gain since Nov. 25
** Battery materials co says it has received $754.8 mln loan from the U.S. Department of Energy
** Loan for new synthetic graphite manufacturing plant in Tennessee
** Stock hits its highest level since Dec. 9
** Almost 9.4 mln shares change hands, compared with the 30-day average volume of about 5.2 mln
** NVX down 12.9% YTD
(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru)
((Adwitiya.Srivastava@thomsonreuters.com;))