Carbons Classification, Synthesis, and Structures

Because of the variety of available carbons, classification is inevitable. Most carbonaceous materials which are capable of reversible hthium intercalation can be classified roughly as graphitic and nongraphitic (disordered). 

Most nongraphitic carbons are prepared by pyrolysis of organic polymer or hydrocarbon precursors at temperatures below 1500°C. Further heat treatment of most nongraphitic carbons at temperatures from 1500 to 3000°C makes it possible to distinguish between two different types of carbons. 

Apart from manifold structures, carbons can have various shapes, forms, and textures, including powders with different particle size distributions, foams, whiskers, foils, felts, papers, fibers [75, 76], spherical particles [75] such as mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs) (Nakagawa, Y. Osaka Gas Chemicals Co., Ltd., personal communication), and so on. Comprehensive overviews are given, for example, in Refs [66, 70, 71]. Further information on the synthesis and structures of carbonaceous materials can be found in Refs [66, 69, 71, 74, 77]. Details of the surface composition and surface chemistry of carbons are reviewed in Part II, Chapter 11, and in Part III, Chapter 17, of this handbook. Some aspects of surface chemistry of Uthiated carbons will also be discussed in Section 15.2.2.3. 

The actual structure of practical carbonaceous materials deviates more or less from the ideal graphite structure. Even number of structural defects. Moreover, 

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