New Perspectives on the Structure of Graphitic Carbons

Graphitic forms of carbon are important in a wide variety of applications, ranging from pollution control to composite materials, yet the structure of these carbons at the molecular level is poorly understood. The discovery of fullerenes and fullerene-related structures such as carbon nanotubes has given a new perspective on the structure of solid carbon. This review aims to show how the new knowledge gained as a result of research on fullerene-related carbons can be applied to well-known forms of carbon such as microporous carbon, glassy carbon, carbon fibers, and carbon black. Keywords: fullerenescarbon nanotubescarbon nanoparticlesnon-graphitizing carbonsmicroporous carbonglassy carboncarbon blackcarbon fibers ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is grateful to Randy Vander Wal for helpful comments.