An Overview of the Transition from Amorphous Carbon to an Ordered Graphitic Crystalline Plane for Applications
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This review provides a comprehensive overview of the structural transformation from amorphous carbon—particularly in graphitizable soft carbons—to ordered graphitic crystalline planes, emphasizing the underlying mechanisms, advanced characterization techniques, and diverse applications. Carbon materials exhibit a broad spectrum of structures, from disordered amorphous forms to highly crystalline allotropes like graphite and graphene, with controlled transitions enabling tailored properties for energy storage, electronics, sensors, and composites. Key graphitization methods, including thermal annealing, catalytic processes, pressure-assisted techniques, and irradiation, are discussed in relation to processing conditions and resulting nanostructures. Thermodynamic and kinetic considerations, structural reorganization pathways, and the influence of heteroatoms and impurities are explored in depth. State-of-the-art characterization tools such as XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and TEM offer insights into atomic-scale studies. The review also addresses current challenges, emerging trends like sustainable and energy-efficient approaches, and future prospects for innovative carbon-based technologies.
Source: Materials and Sustainability
Authors: Adriana Montiel-García, Manoj Kumar Srinivasan, Ignacio Avila Aguilar, Wilgince Apollon, Arun Thirumurugan, Sathish-Kumar Kamaraj
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: Instituto Politécnico Nacional
OpenAlex ID: W4414620872