THE ELEMENTAL CARBON

Elemental carbon is a small component of Earth’s core. Coal, as well as the organic chemicals that make up natural gas, plant and animal tissue and also petroleum, are the most abundant element in the universe. The man who discovered carbon first did the experiment with charcoal and fire. Elemental carbon comes in a variety of forms, each with its unique set of physical properties. Diamond and graphite, two of its well-defined forms, have crystalline structures, but their physical properties differ because the atoms in their structures are arranged in various ways, but an amorphous carbon has no crystalline structure.

 What do we mean by elemental carbon?

The Elemental Carbon derived from the Latin word ‘carbo’ which means charcoal in simple words, which is an atomic number 6 chemical element with the symbol C. It’s a non-metallic and tetravalent, which means it has four electrons for chemical bonding. It belongs to the periodic table’s 14th group.[IV].Only roughly 0.025 percent of the Earth’s crust is made up of carbon. 

The crystalline allotropic forms of it are graphite and diamond.It ranges from amorphous carbon to completely crystalline allotropes in terms of crystallinity. The fullerene structure, a third crystalline form of elemental carbon,was recently identified. Elemental carbon has a wide variety of oxidation susceptibilities depending on how much of the precursor plant material was carbonized during pyrolysis and how much surface area is available for oxidation.

Properties of elemental carbon

The physical and chemical properties of the element depends on the crystalline structure of the element.Graphite has a density of 2.25g/cm3 , while diamond has a density of 3.51cm3. Graphite has a melting point of 3500 degreeC (6332 degree F) and an extrapolated boiling point of 4830 degree C(8726 degree F). Insoluble in water , diluted acids and bases, and organic solvents, elemental carbon is an inert material. 

It mixes with oxygen at high temperatures to give carbon monoxide or dioxide. Metallic acid C6(CO2H)6 is processed using hot oxidizing agents such as nitric acid and potassium nitrate. Only fluorine reacts with elemental carbon among the halogens. Carbides are formed when a large number of metals combine with the element at high temperatures.

Allotropes of carbon

Under normal conditions, all carbon allotropes are solids, with graphite being the most thermodynamically stable at standard temperature and pressure. They are chemically robust and, even with oxygen, require a higher temperature to react. Because atomic carbon is such a short- lived species, it is stablilised in a variety of multi-atomic structures with a variety of molecular configurations known as allotropes. 

Amorphous carbon, graphite and diamond are the three most well- known allotropes of carbon.Fullerenes, which include buckyballs, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanobuds, and nanofibres, were once regarded exotic but are now frequently manufactured and employed in research. Lonsdaleite, glassy carbon, carbon nanofoam, and linear acetylenic carbon are some of the more unusual allotropes identified(carbyne).

The amorphous carbon

Amorphous carbon atoms are non-crystalline, uneven, glassy carbon atoms that are not held in a crystalline macrostructure. It comes in the form of a powder and is the primary component of charcoal, lampblack(soot), and activated carbon. Carbon takes the form of graphite at normal pressures, with each atom bound trigonal to three others in a plane made up of fused hexagonal rings, precisely like aromatic hydrogen carbons.

By terminating dangling bonds with hydrogen, amorphous carbon compounds can be stabilised. There is some short-range order in this amorphous solid, as it is in other amorphous solids. For generic amorphous carbon, the abbreviation aC is commonly used.

Production of Elemental Carbon

In 1955, graphite was successfully converted to diamond in a laboratory setting. Synthetic diamonds are being produced in various nations and are rapidly being employed as industrial abrasives in place of natural materials. Graphite, amorphous carbon can be found naturally in a variety of places, but the most important deposits are in China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Russia, and Madagascar. Surface and deep mining techniques are utilised, followed by floatation, although the majority of commercial graphite is produced in an electric furnace by heating petroleum .

Uses of Elemental Carbon

• The burning of helium produces carbon in the universe.
• The inks, paints which we use are made from amorphous carbon. It is also utilised in the manufacture of batteries.
• The pencils lead is made of graphite.It’s also utilised in the steel making process. Carbon dating is the most used application. 
• Carbon can be used to find the age of objects, Carbon-14, a rare type of carbon , is used by scientists to determine the age of fossils, bones, and other objects. The emission of carbon is recorded in order to calculate the life of the organic lives.

CONCLUSION

Carbon is a fascinating element in general. Its existence in the cores of stars, its abundance but not in pure form and its vitality to life make it an ideal element to research, hunt for, utilise in alloys, and wear on jewellery. Carbon is found in so many things and places that it boggles the mind ,and it holds a special place in our hearts.Another one,as carbon is already present in the heart, what with carbon being present in the tissue and all. A comprehensive understanding of the relative source contributions to EC concentrations in the atmosphere is critical.