Structure of Carbon Materials Explored by Local Transmission Electron Microscopy and Global Powder Diffraction Probes

Abstract

Transmission electron microscopy and neutron or X-ray diffraction are powerful techniques available today for characterization of the structure of various carbon materials at nano and atomic levels. They provide complementary information but each one has advantages and limitations. Powder X-ray or neutron diffraction measurements provide structural information representative for the whole volume of a material under probe but features of singular nano-objects cannot be identified. Transmission electron microscopy, in turn, is able to probe single nanoscale objects. In this review, it is demonstrated how transmission electron microscopy and powder X-ray and neutron diffraction methods complement each other by providing consistent structural models for different types of carbons such as carbon blacks, glass-like carbons, graphene, nanotubes, nanodiamonds, and nanoonions.

Carbon black reborn: Structure and chemistry for renewable energy harnessing

“…As previously discussed, a BSU domain can be thought as made of a stack of few and small graphene fragments. In addition to flat graphene domains, curved graphene layers are present [19]. Recent HRTEM studies on soot confirmed the presence of curved graphene domains resembling those of fullerene [20].…”

Physicochemical properties and performance of graphene oxide/polyacrylonitrile composite fibers as supercapacitor electrode materials

“…The broad peak centered near 23 corresponded to the (002) planes in amorphous graphitic carbon, and it along with the peak at 49.32 were characteristic of GO in biomass. 29,34,[49][50][51] The diffraction pattern of the PAN nanober mat (CNF0) contained a sharp peak at 17 , which corresponded to the (010) planes in crystalline PAN. 47 A sharp peak appears near 28 in the XRD pattern of pure PAN.…”

Environmentally Friendly Route for Fabricating Conductive Agent for Lithium-Ion Batteries: Carbon Nanoparticles Derived from Polyethylene

“…D-spacing (d 002 ) and axial size of carbon crystallite (L c ) were calculated based on characteristic (002) carbon peak around 25 • . The Bragg angle of the (002) peak was used to calculate D-spacing, and L c was calculated based on the Debye-Scherrer equation using the full width at half maximum (FWHM) value of the peak [29,33]. While the D-spacing of Super-P was slightly smaller than that of PE-derived carbon, L c was much bigger than that of PE carbon, indicating superior carbon structural development of Super-P in the axial direction.…”