05/6/2004 -
Graphite Intercalation Compounds and Applications (2003)
by Toshiaki Enoki, Masatsugu Suzuki, and Morinobu Endo
ISBN 0-19-512827-3. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York. 2003. Hardcover. 440 pages. $150.
Toshiaki Enoki, Masatsugu Suzuki and Morinobu Endo, highly regarded professors in carbon chemistry, have combined to create a very readable book that covers the specific technologies, challenges, opportunities, and advances in each area of graphite intercalation compounds (GICs). This book also covers the well-established areas of carbon science and technology, such as the Li ion battery, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and related materials. The arrangement and presentation of the chapters in the book is logical and thoughtful.
Like most well-rounded primers, the book’s first chapter deals with an introduction to graphite and graphite intercalation compounds. It also summarizes the organization of various issues discussed in each chapter. In chapter 2, the authors describe the various methods for preparation of donor and acceptor intercalation compounds as well as ternary intercalation compounds. While in chapter 3, the authors review the structures, phase transitions, and kinetics for donor and acceptor GICs.
Lattice dynamics and electronic structures of GICs are described in chapter 4 and 5 respectively. Phonon dispersion in alkali metal GICs have been explained and compared with that of pristine graphite by folding the dispersion curves of graphite into the first Brillouin zone of these alkali metal GICs. In chapter 5, the electronic structure GICs has been obtained from the ð-band structure of graphite on the basis of the tight binding model. They have also presented the electronic structure information from NMR and orbital susceptibility.
Chapters 6, 7 and 8 give quite an extensive treatment, through varying somewhat in depth and breadth, on how GICs may be used for specific functions. These include the electron transport, magnetic, and surface properties of GICs. The contribution of the electron-phonon scattering process has been very nicely discussed in chapter 6 and in chapter 7, the authors reviewed magnetic properties and magnetic phase transitions of acceptor GICs and donor GICs. This provides direct information on the intraplaner exchange interaction. Chapter 8 gives an overview of gas physisorption in alkali metal GICs and describes the structure and electronic properties of surfaces in comparison with those of the bulk state on the basis of STM investigations.
In chapter 9, applications of covalent GICs in primary battery systems have been described in terms of structural characterization and properties of cathode material, in particular for fluorine intercalated compounds, which have been commercialized as materials for small primary batteries for use with electronic devices. On other hand in chapter 10, the authors have summarized the characterization of intercalated carbon and graphite fibers obtained by using the various intercalate species, namely pentafluorides, metal chlorides, fluorine, donor ternaries, residue halogens, and acids, in terms of their microstructure and staging.
The book concludes with a chapter on intercalated fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. On the whole, I have found this book very informative. It has certainly widened my horizons as to what GICs can do and achieve in a diverse range of applications. The book has been written with great thought placed on the presentation of the material. It will benefit graduate students, researchers, and those entering a new area of research within the field of GICs. |
