High-Resolution TEM Studies of Carbonization and Graphitization

When considering the tremendous amount of transmission electron microscope or microscopy (TEM) studies carried out on carbons for about 20 years, a leading thread seems at first glance difficult to find. To distinguish unambiguously between a large-diameter isometric carbon layer stack and a ribbon it is necessary to keep in mind that TEM images are two-dimensional projections on the observation plane along the objective lens optical axis. There is another way to obtain other bidimensional projections of the object along different crystallographic directions: wide use of dark-field images. Changes in microtexture are responsible for the behavior of organic matter during carbonization and graphitization. In the case of azimuthal misorientation, a series of numerical data can be obtained from selected area electron diffraction patterns. A few additional remarks must be added here concerning numerical data that can be obtained. The reliability of the images and the reliability of the data will be discussed.