Everything about Allotropes Of Carbon totally explained
This is a list of the
allotropes of
carbon.
Diamond
Diamond is one of the best known
allotropes of carbon, whose hardness and high dispersion of light make it useful for industrial applications and jewelry. Diamond is the hardest known natural
mineral, which makes it an excellent abrasive and makes it hold polish and lustre extremely well.
The market for industrial-grade diamonds operates much differently from its gem-grade counterpart. Industrial diamonds are valued mostly for their hardness and heat conductivity, making many of the
gemological characteristics of diamond, including clarity and color, mostly irrelevant. This helps explain why 80% of mined diamonds (equal to about 100 million carats or 20,000 kg annually), unsuitable for use as gemstones and known as
bort, are destined for industrial use. In addition to mined diamonds, synthetic diamonds found industrial applications almost immediately after their invention in the 1950s; another 400 million carats (80,000 kg) of synthetic diamonds are produced annually for industrial use—nearly four times the mass of natural diamonds mined over the same period.
The dominant industrial use of diamond is in cutting, drilling (drill bits), grinding (diamond edged cutters), and polishing. Most uses of diamonds in these technologies don't require large diamonds; in fact, most diamonds that are gem-quality can find an industrial use. Diamonds are embedded in drill tips or saw blades, or ground into a powder for use in grinding and polishing applications. Specialized applications include use in laboratories as containment for high pressure experiments (see
diamond anvil), high-performance
bearings, and limited use in specialized
windows.
With the continuing advances being made in the production of synthetic diamond, future applications are beginning to become feasible. Garnering much excitement is the possible use of diamond as a
semiconductor suitable to build
microchips from, or the use of diamond as a
heat sink in
electronics. Significant research efforts in
Japan,
Europe, and the
United States are under way to capitalize on the potential offered by diamond's unique material properties, combined with increased quality and quantity of supply starting to become available from synthetic diamond manufacturers.
Each carbon atom in a diamond is covalently bonded to four other carbons in a tetrahedron. These tetrahedrons together form a 3-dimensional network of puckered six-membered rings of atoms. This stable network of
covalent bonds and the three dimensional arrangement of bonds is the reason that diamond is so strong.
Graphite
Graphite (named by
Abraham Gottlob Werner in
1789, from the Greek γράφειν: "to draw/write", for its use in pencils) is one of the most common allotropes of carbon. Unlike diamond, graphite is an electrical conductor, and can be used, for instance, as the material in the electrodes of an electrical arc lamp. Graphite holds the distinction of being the most stable form of carbon under
standard conditions. Therefore, it's used in thermochemistry as the
standard state for defining the
heat of formation of carbon compounds.
Graphite is able to
conduct electricity, due to
delocalization of the
pi bond electrons above and below the planes of the carbon atoms. These electrons are free to move, so are able to conduct electricity. However, the electricity is only conducted along the plane of the layers. In diamond all four outer electrons of each carbon atom are 'localised' between the atoms in covalent bonding. The movement of electrons is restricted and diamond doesn't conduct an electric current. In graphite, each carbon atom uses only 3 of its 4 outer energy level electrons in covalently bonding to three other carbon atoms in a plane. Each carbon atom contributes one electron to a delocalised system of electrons that's also a part of the chemical bonding. The delocalised electrons are free to move throughout the plane. For this reason, graphite conducts electricity along the planes of carbon atoms, but doesn't conduct in a direction at right angles to the plane.
Graphite powder is used as a dry
lubricant. Although it might be thought that this industrially important property is due entirely to the
loose interlamellar coupling between sheets in the structure, in fact in a
vacuum environment (such as in technologies for use in
space), graphite was found to be a very poor lubricant. This fact led to the discovery that graphite's lubricity is due to
adsorbed air and water between the layers, unlike other layered dry lubricants such as
molybdenum disulfide. Recent studies suggest that an effect called
superlubricity can also account for this effect.
When a large number of crystallographic defects bind these planes together, graphite loses its lubrication properties and becomes what is known as
pyrolytic carbon, a useful material in blood-contacting implants such as
prosthetic heart valves.
Natural and crystalline graphites are not often used in pure form as structural materials due to their shear-planes, brittleness and inconsistent mechanical properties.
In its pure glassy (isotropic) synthetic forms,
pyrolytic graphite and
carbon fiber graphite is an extremely strong, heat-resistant (to 3000 °C) material, used in reentry shields for missile nosecones,
solid rocket engines,
high temperature reactors,
brake shoes and
electric motor brushes.
Intumescent or expandable graphites are used in fire seals, fitted around the perimeter of a fire door. During a fire the graphite intumesces (expands and chars) to resist fire penetration and prevent the spread of fumes. A typical start expansion temperature (SET) is between 150 and 300 degrees Celsius.
Density: its specific gravity is 2.3 which makes it lighter than diamond.
Effect of heat: it's the most stable allotrope of carbon. At a temperature of 2500 degree Celsius, it can be transformed into diamond. At about 700 degree Celsius it burns in pure oxygen forming carbon dioxide.
Chemical activity: it's slightly more reactive than diamond. This is because the reactants are able to penetrate between the hexagonal layers of carbon atoms in graphite. It is unaffected by ordinary solvents, dilute acids, or fused alkalis. However, chromic acid oxidises it to carbon dioxide.
Amorphous carbon
Amorphous carbon is the name used for
carbon that doesn't have any
crystalline structure. As with all
glassy materials, some short-range order can be observed, but there's no long-range pattern of atomic positions.
While entirely amorphous carbon can be made, natural amorphous carbon (such as soot) actually contains microscopic crystals of
graphite,
(External Link
) sometimes
diamond (External Link). On the macroscopic scale, amorphous carbon has no definite structure as it conisists of small irregular cystals, but on the nanomicroscopic scale,we can see it's made of regularly arranged carbon atoms.
Coal and
soot are both informally called amorphous carbon. However, both are products of
pyrolysis(the process of decomposing a substance by the action of heat), which doesn't produce true amorphous carbon under normal conditions. The coal industry divides coal up into various grades depending on the amount of carbon present in the sample compared to the amount of impurities. The highest grade,
anthracite, is about 90 percent carbon and 10% other elements.
Bituminous coal is about 75-90 percent carbon, and
lignite is the name for coal that's around 55 percent carbon.
Buckminsterfullerenes
The
buckminsterfullerenes, or usually just
fullerenes for short, were discovered in 1985 by a team of scientists from Rice University and the University of Sussex, three of whom were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They are named for the resemblance of their alliotropic structure to the geodesic structures devised by the scientist and architect
Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller. Fullerenes are molecules of varying sizes composed entirely of carbon, which take the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube.
As of the early twenty-first century, the chemical and physical properties of fullerenes are still under heavy study, in both pure and applied research labs. In April 2003, fullerenes were under study for potential medicinal use — binding specific antibiotics to the structure to target resistant bacteria and even target certain cancer cells such as melanoma.
Buckyballs
Spherical fullerenes are also called buckyballs.
Carbon nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes, also called buckytubes, are cylindrical
carbon molecules with novel properties that make them potentially useful in a wide variety of applications (for example, nano-electronics,
optics,
materials applications, etc.). They exhibit extraordinary strength, unique
electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of
heat.
Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized.
A nanotube (also known as a buckytube) is a member of the
fullerene structural family, which also includes
buckyballs. Whereas buckyballs are
spherical in shape, a nanotube is
cylindrical, with at least one end typically capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure. Their name is derived from their size, since the diameter of a nanotube is on the order of a few
nanometers (approximately 50,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair), while they can be up to several centimeters in length. There are two main types of nanotubes:
single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and
multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).
Carbon nanobuds
Carbon NanoBuds are a newly discovered allotrope of
carbon in which
fullerene like "buds" are covalently attached to the outer sidewalls of the
carbon nanotubes. This hybrid material has useful properties of both fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. In particular, they've been found to be exceptionally good field emitters.
Aggregated diamond nanorods
Aggregated diamond nanorods, or
ADNRs, are an
allotrope of
carbon believed to be the least compressible material known to humankind, as measured by its
isothermal bulk modulus; aggregated diamond nanorods have a modulus of 491
gigapascals (GPa), while a conventional
diamond has a modulus of 442 GPa. ADNRs are also 0.3% denser than regular diamond. The ADNR material is also harder than type IIa diamond and
ultrahard fullerite.
Glassy carbon
Glassy carbon is a class of non-graphitizing
carbon which is widely used as an electrode material in
electrochemistry, as well as for high temperature crucibles and as a component of some prosthetic devices. It was first produced by workers at the laboratories of
The General Electric Company, UK, in the early 1960s, using cellulose as the starting material. A short time later, Japanese workers produced a similar material from
phenolic resin.
It was first produced by Bernard Redfern in the mid 1950's at the laboratories of The Carborundum Company, Trafford Park, Manchester, UK. He set out to develop a polymer matrix to mirror a diamond structure and discovered a resole (phenolic) resin that would, with special preparation, set without a catalyst. Using this resin the first glassy carbon was produced. Patents were filed some of which were withdrawn in the interests of national security. Original research samples of resin and product exist.
The preparation of glassy carbon involves subjecting the organic precursors to a series of heat treatments at temperatures up to 3000
oC. Unlike many non-graphitizing carbons, they're impermeable to gases and are chemically extremely inert, especially those which have been prepared at very high temperatures. It has been demonstrated that the rates of oxidation of certain glassy carbons in oxygen, carbon dioxide or water vapour are lower than those of any other carbon. They are also highly resistant to attack by acids. Thus, while normal
graphite is reduced to a powder by a mixture of concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids at room temperature, glassy carbon is unaffected by such treatment, even after several months.
Carbon nanofoam
Carbon nanofoam is the fifth known allotrope of carbon discovered in
1997 by
Andrei V. Rode and co-workers at the
Australian National University in
Canberra. It consists of a low-density cluster-assembly of carbon atoms strung together in a loose three-dimensional web.
Each cluster is about 6 nanometers wide and consists of about 4000 carbon
atoms linked in
graphite-like sheets that are given negative curvature by the inclusion of
heptagons among the regular
hexagonal pattern. This is the opposite of what happens in the case of
buckminsterfullerenes, in which carbon sheets are given positive curvature by the inclusion of
pentagons.
The large-scale structure of carbon nanofoam is similar to that of an
aerogel, but with 1% of the density of previously produced
carbon aerogels - only a few times the density of
air at
sea level. Unlike carbon aerogels, carbon nanofoam is a poor
electrical conductor.
Lonsdaleite (hexagonal diamond)
Lonsdaleite is a
hexagonal allotrope of the carbon allotrope
diamond, believed to form when
meteoric
graphite falls to
Earth. The great heat and stress of the impact transforms the graphite into diamond, but retains graphite's hexagonal
crystal lattice.
Lonsdaleite was first identified from the
Canyon Diablo meteorite at
Barringer Crater (also known as Meteor Crater) in
Arizona. It was first discovered in
1967. Lonsdaleite occurs as microscopic crystals associated with diamond in the Canyon Diablo meteorite; Kenna meteorite,
New Mexico; and Allan Hills (ALH) 77283, Victoria Land,
Antarctica meteorite. It has also been reported from the
Tunguska impact site,
Russia.
Linear Acetylenic Carbon (LAC)
Chemists in the USA have recently reported (ca 1995) an allotrope of carbon consisting of long chains of carbon atoms where the alternate carbon-carbon bonds are of different lengths; and consist of C-C bonds and C≡C bonds.
The same polymer was synthesized in early 1960s by group of Soviet chemists and was called carbyne (
Russian: карбин). It appeared to be a semiconductor that's very sensitive to light, thus it was suggested to use it in
photodiodes and similar devices.
Carbyne, or polyyne, is also another name for Linear Acetylenic Carbon (LAC) the
carbon allotrope that has the chemical structure -(C:::C)
n- .Carbon in this modification is linear with
sp orbital hybridisation, and is a
polymer with alternating single and triple bonds. This type of carbyne is of considerable interest to
nanotechnology as its Young's modulus is forty times that of diamond .
Variability of carbon
The system of carbon allotropes spans an astounding range of extremes, considering that they're all merely structural formations of the same element.
Between diamond and graphite:
- Diamond crystallizes in the cubic system but graphite crystallizes in the hexagonal system.
- Diamond is hardest mineral known to man (10 on Mohs scale), but graphite is one of the softest (1 - 2 on Mohs scale).
- Diamond is the ultimate abrasive, but graphite is a very good lubricant.
- Diamond is an excellent electrical insulator, but graphite is a conductor of electricity.
- Diamond is an excellent thermal conductor, but some forms of graphite are used for thermal insulation (for example heatshields and firebreaks)
Other possible forms
Chaoite is a mineral believed to have been formed in meteorite impacts. It has been described as slightly harder than graphite with a reflection colour of grey to white. However, the existence of carbyne phases is disputed – see the entry on chaoite for details.
Metallic carbon: Theoretical studies have shown that carbon (diamond) when brought at enormous pressure, there are regions in the phase diagram where it's metallic. It seems that it can also become superconducting at very low temperatures (4 kelvins).
Hexagonite: in theory, instead of having the 6-arom rings of graphite, one sp carbon atom could be inserted between each of the 6 sp2 atoms.
Prismane C8 is another possible metastable form.Further Information
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