Book description
It is well known that solid carbons can be found in various guises with
different forms of bulk phases (graphites, diamonds and carbynes) as
well as more molecular forms (fullerenes,nanotubes and graphenes)
resulting from recent discoveries.
The cause of this rich polymorphism is analyzed in the first
part of this book (chapters 1-5) with the propensity of carbon atoms
for forming different types of homopolar chemical bonds associated
with variable coordination numbers. Precursor organic molecules and
parent compounds are also described to establish specific links with
this rich polymorphism.
Then in a second part (chapters 6-10) a comparative review of the
main classes of bulk physical properties is presented. This approach
emphasizes in particular the electronic behavior of (pi) polyaromatic
systems organized in plane and curved atomic sheets. Finally in a
third part (chapters 11-15) the surface and interface characteristics
are introduced together with the texture and morphology of these
multiscale carbon materials. An overview of the main field of
applications is related showing the large use and interest for these solids.
