ABSTRACT
Carbon materials have always played important roles for human beings, charcoal as heat source and adsorbent since prehistorical era, fl aky natural graphite powder as pencil lead, soots in black ink for the development of communication techniques, graphite electrodes for steel production, carbon blacks for reinforcing the tires in order to develop motorization, membrane switches for making computers and control panels thinner and lighter, etc. In electrochemistry, electric conductive carbon rods and carbon blacks support the development of primary batteries; a compound of graphite with fl uorine, graphite fl uoride, improved the performance of primary batteries; and the reaction of lithium intercalation/deintercalation into the galleries of graphite was greatly promoting the development of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes developed recently are promoting the development of nanotechnology in various fi elds of science and engineering.
