Lattice, local defects graphite

The graphite lattice may show stacking faults or defects within the sheets, and, possibly, bending of the sheets (Fig. 2.25). Omission of a carbon atom (voids), or inclusions of noncarbon elements or molecules, disrupts the orderly configuration and inhibits crystallization of carbon as graphite. These impurities act as sites of local strain that directly influence crystallite size, distribution, and orientation within a sample, and in turn affect the physical and chemical characteristics of the material, especially its strength. 

Contrary to bulk diamond, the spin density is increased by sample purification because the treatment, for example, with concentrated oxidizing mineral acids, removes the graphitic layer from the surface of the nanoparticles (Section 5.3.4). In this way new, unsaturated bonding sites are generated. A part of the spin density, however, is localized in the crystal lattice for nanodiamond as well, and again nitrogen centers and other defects give rise to the unpaired electrons. 

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