Design and control of structure of advanced carbon materials for enhanced performance : [proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Design and Control of Structure of Advanced Carbon Materials for Enhanced Performance, Antalya, Turkey, May 10-21,

Carbon is unique in the range of structures and properties that are displayed by its material forms. The bonds in diamond, within the plane of graphite and in the fullerene molecules, C, are the strongest covalent bonds possible. This strong covalent bonding 60 leads to some exceptional intrinsic properties, examples of which are: the greatest Young's modulus (in diamond, within the graphite plane and in singleƯ walled nanotubes) the highest room temperature thermal conductivity (in diamond and within the graphite plane) high hole mobility in doped diamond exceptional thermal stability of the structure in graphite It is because of the extreme thermal stability that such a wide range of materials is available. Atomic mobilities are low at all but the highest temperatures. Sintering, melting and casting of carbon are not feasible processing operations and carbon/graphite components are exclusively produced from the pyrolytic decomposition of organic precursors. The vast majority of engineering carbons have Sp2 type bonding and are related in some way to the structure of graphite. In the c-direction the bonding in graphite is of van der Waals character with the result that graphite is highly anisotropic in its properties and is probably unique in showing both the highest and lowest bond strengths in different directions in the same crystal Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Polymorphism in Carbons and Parent Materials....Pages 3-27 Theory and Modelling of Carbon....Pages 29-41 Characterisation of Carbon Structure....Pages 43-64 Thermal and Electrical Properties of Carbons Relationship to Structure....Pages 65-83 Surface Properties of Carbons for Advanced Carbon-Based Composites....Pages 85-122 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 Pitch Precursor-Origin and Chemical Constitution....Pages 125-134 The Thermal Processing and Rheological Behaviour of Pitch....Pages 135-150 Mesophase Precursors for Advanced Carbon Fibers Pitches, Stabilization and Carbonization....Pages 151-161 Carbon Fiber Processing and Structure/Property Relations....Pages 163-181 Carbon-Carbon Composites....Pages 183-206 Preparation and Structure of Carbon Fibres and Carbon Nanotubes from the Vapour Phase....Pages 207-216 Manufacture of Bulk Carbon and Grapidte Materials....Pages 217-225 Front Matter....Pages 227-227 Mechanical Properties of Carbon-Carbon Composites....Pages 229-239 High Strength, Sintered Carbons and Graphites....Pages 241-254 Anode Performance of the Li-Ion Secondary Battery....Pages 255-275 Carbon Materials for Energy Production and Storage....Pages 277-294 Porous Carbons for Gas Storage and Separation....Pages 295-318 Carbon-Ceramic Alloys....Pages 319-337 “Carbon Alloys”....Pages 339-343 Back Matter....Pages 345-347 The review of carbon materials here presented regards them as forming a continuous spectrum, varying in crystallinity and nano?, micro? and macro?texture. The structure?property relationships are discussed to examine how they can be controlled during different processing operations. Processing routes are described to see how they might be varied, modified or invented to meet he needs for new applications. The following key questions are debated: What is intrinsically possible with carbon materials? How do we convert what is intrinsically possible into an engineering product that enhances our quality of life? How do we design and produce materials to satisfy the visions of the engineer?

Proceedings of a May 1998 institute held in Turkey, bringing together an international group of specialists. Nineteen contributions are arranged in sections on structure and properties; processing; and properties, applications and new directions. A sampling of topics: polymorphism in carbons and parent materials, characteristics of carbon structure, the thermal processing and rheological behavior of pitch, carbon-carbon composites, anode performance of the Li-ion secondary battery, and porous carbons for gas storage and separation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

It has long been known that solid carbon can be found in various guises: besides the confirmation that the different forms of graphite and diamond are crystalline varieties of this element, new forms such as the carbynes the fullerenes and nanotubes, have recently been discovered.