Crucial during the heat treatment to graphitization temperatures is the release of the incorporated heteroatoms sulfur and nitrogen. The release of nitrogen starts at around 1670 K followed by the release of sulfur at around 1870 K [37, 38]. Both volatiles lead to an irreversible expansion with the potential to destroy the polygranular artifact. This behavior is named as puffing [39, 40].
During further heat treatment to graphitization temperatures above 2500 K, lattice defects are eliminated, combined with the growth of the graphene layers in a‐ and c‐direction (La = apparent crystallite size, Lc = mean stacking height) and the narrowing of the interlayer distance toward the value of the ideal graphite crystal. The development of the graphite crystal under graphitization temperatures was investigated in situ by X‐ray diffraction up to 2870 K [41]. This investigation showed that prior to the interlayer distance shrinkage, defects in the layers must be healed enabling the necessary parallel arrangement.
Figure 5.11 Structural development of a graphitizable carbon during heat treatment up to graphitization temperatures. Source: Ubbelohde et al. 1963 [42]. Reproduced with permission of Springer Nature.
Above temperatures of about 2770 K the lattice order can be improved by mechanical impact like high pressure or tension [42]. The most illustrative description of the graphite lattice formation during high‐temperature treatment was given by Marsh in 1982 (Figure 5.11) [43].
Gas‐phase pyrolysis is characterized by thermal cracking of gaseous hydrocarbon compounds and deposition of carbon on a substrate. Traditional industrial examples are carbon black and pyrolytic carbon. But also vapor‐grown carbon fibers (VGCFs) and carbon nanoparticles (fullerenes, nanotubes, nanocaps) are generated by gas‐phase pyrolysis.
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Further Reading
1 Delhaès, P. (ed.) (2001). Graphite and Precursors, vol. 1. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach.
2 Inagaki, M. (ed.) (2000). New Carbons, 1e. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
3 Pierson, H.O. (1993).