Diamond carbon allotropes

The three solid elemental forms of carbon (allotropes) diamond, graphite, and buckminsterfullerene. The representations of diamond and graphite are fragments of much larger structures that extend in all directions from the parts shown here. Buckminsterfullerene contains Cgo molecules, one of which is shown. 

B.37 Write a short paragraph highlighting the similarities and differences among the three carbon allotropes diamond, graphite, and the graphenes. 

Despite many publications on carbynes, their existence has not been universally accepted and the literature has been characterised by conflicting claims and counter claims [e.g., 27-29]. This is particularly tme of meteoritic carbynes. An interesting account of die nature of elemental carbon in interstellar dust (including diamond, graphite and carbynes) was given by Pillinger [30]. Reitmeijer [31] has re-interpreted carbyne diffraction data and has concluded that carbynes could be stratified or mixed layer carbons with variable heteroelement content (H,0,N) rather than a pure carbon allotrope. 

Chapter 1 contains a review of carbon materials, and emphasizes the stmeture and chemical bonding in the various forms of carbon, including the foui" allotropes diamond, graphite, carbynes, and the fullerenes. In addition, amorphous carbon and diamond fihns, carbon nanoparticles, and engineered carbons are discussed. The most recently discovered allotrope of carbon, i.e., the fullerenes, along with carbon nanotubes, are more fully discussed in Chapter 2, where their structure-property relations are reviewed in the context of advanced technologies for carbon based materials. The synthesis, structure, and properties of the fullerenes and... 

Fig. 4. EEL spectra of (a) graphite and (b) diamond. These carbon allotropes represent different spectra sp bonding especially exhibits 7c -excitation peak lower than the o -excitation peaks (modified from ref. 16).

Compare the hybridization and structure of carbon in diamond and graphite. How do these features explain the physical properties of the two allotropes ... 

The allotropy of carbon is due to variations in the crystal structure of the element. There are three allotropes of carbon graphite, diamond, and... 

It is tempting to take the carbon insertion mechanisms to the extreme and look for the completely unsaturated carbon allotropes of graphite and diamond. Graphite has been postulated for many years but there is at present no IR evidence for it in the ISM. This is partly due to the problems of detection. The gross selection rule for an IR spectrum requires a change in dipole moment during a vibration and the... 

The commonest crystalline forms of carbon, cubic diamond and hexagonal graphite, are classical examples of allotropy that arc found in every chemistry textbook. Both diamond and graphite also exist in two minor crystallographic forms hexagonal diamond and rhombohedral graphite. To these must be added carbynes and Fullerenes, both of which are crystalline carbon forms. FulleTenes are sometimes referred to as the third allotrope of carbon. However, since Fullerenes were discovered more recently than carbynes, they are... 

Abstract The past two decades have profoundly changed the view that we have of elemental carbon. The discovery of the fullerenes, spherically-shaped carbon molecules, has permanently altered the dogma that carbon can only exist in its two stable natural allotropes, graphite and diamond. The preparation of molecular and polymeric acetylenic carbon allotropes, as well as carbon-rich nanometer-sized structures, has opened up new avenues in fundamental and technological research at the interface of chemistry and the materials sciences. This article outlines some fascinating perspectives for the organic synthesis of carbon allotropes and their chemistry. Cyclo[n]carbons are the first rationally designed molecular carbon allotropes, and... 

Carbon is unique among chemical elements since it exists in different forms and microtextures transforming it into a very attractive material that is widely used in a broad range of electrochemical applications. Carbon exists in various allotropic forms due to its valency, with the most well-known being carbon black, diamond, fullerenes, graphene and carbon nanotubes. This review is divided into four sections. In the first two sections the structure, electronic and electrochemical properties of carbon are presented along with their applications. The last two sections deal with the use of carbon in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) as catalyst support and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst. 

For synthetic chemists, who are interested in the transformation of known and the creation of new matter, elemental carbon as starting material once played a minor role. This situahon changed dramatically when the family of carbon allotropes consisting of the classical forms graphite and diamond became enriched by the fullerenes. In contrast to graphite and diamond, with extended solid state stmctures, fullerenes are spherical molecules and are soluble in various organic solvents, an important requirement for chemical manipulations. 

Elementary carbon exists as the allotropes diamond, graphite and the recently characterized series of cluster molecules known as fullerenes, e.g. 

Similar educational opportunities abound for carbon. The diamond and graphite allotropes of carbon have been mainstays of chemistry classes for generations of students and provide a contrast between a three-dimensional structure of great hardness and a two-dimensional structure with lubricant properties, respectively. We now have what can be regarded as zero- and onedimensional counterparts - buckyballs and carbon nanotubes, respectively - with their rich diversity of structural relatives and physicochemical properties (4). These materials are being employed in a variety of nanoscale devices because of their unusual chemical, mechanical and electrical properties. 

Carbon exists in more than 40 known structural forms, or allotropes, several of which are crystalline but most of which are amorphous. Graphite, the most common allotrope of carbon and the most stable under normal conditions, is a crystalline covalent network solid that consists of two-dimensional sheets of fused six-membered rings (Figure 10.26a). Each carbon atom is sp2-hybridized and is connected to three other carbons. The diamond form of elemental carbon is a covalent network solid in which each carbon atom is sp3-hybridized and is bonded with tetrahedral geometry to four other carbons (Figure 10.26b). 

The different structures of the carbon allotropes lead to widely different properties. Because of its three-dimensional network of strong single bonds that tie all atoms in a crystal together, diamond is the hardest known substance. In addition to its use in jewelry, diamond is widely used industrially for the tips of saw blades... 

C60 has not yet been detected in primitive meteorites, a finding that could demonstrate its existence in the early solar nebular or as a component of presolar dust. However, other allotropes of carbon, diamond and graphite, have been isolated from numerous chondritic samples. Studies of the isotopic composition and trace element content and these forms of carbon suggest that they condensed in circumstellar environments. Diamond may also have been produced in the early solar nebula and meteorite parent bodies by both low-temperature-low-pressure processes and shock events. Evidence for the occurrence of another carbon allotrope, with sp hybridized bonding, commonly known as carbyne, is presented. 

One may expect that future work on the electrochemistry of diamond should take two paths, namely, an extensive investigation (search for new processes and applications of the carbon allotropes in the electrochemical science and engineering) and intensive one (elucidation of the reaction mechanisms, revealing the effects of crystal structure and semiconductor properties on the electrochemical behavior of diamond and related materials). It is expected that better insight into these effects will result in the development of standard procedures for thin-film-electrodes growth, their characterization, and surface preparation. 

Abstracts, The International Conference The Electrochemistry of Carbon Allotropes Graphite, Fullerenes and Diamond , October 20-27, 1997, Cleveland, OH, USA. 

Because the allotropes of carbon (graphite, diamond, fullerenes) and closely related silicon-carbide solids will not dissolve in strong acids, they are left as a solid... 

---