The Structure of Glassy Carbon

Abstract

The structure of a glassy carbon made by Tokai Electrode Company has been studied by analyzing X-ray diffraction patterns from six types of sample subjected to different heat-treatments at temperatures from 700°C to 3,000°C. The diffraction intensity of Ag K α 1 radiation was measured to s = 22.1 Å -1 by the method of fluorescence excitation, and the theoretical diffraction intensity was calculated for stacks of turbostratic disks of circular cross section with diameters of 25 to 170Å and heights of 10 to 40Å. By comparison with the observed data, the mesh parameters and the size and number of stacking layers for each sample could be estimated on the assumption that the strain distribution in the sample is Gaussian and the standard deviation of the inter-atomic distance is linearly proportional to its mean distance.