Kemp Terence J
Sci Prog. 2017 Sep 1;100(3):293-298. doi: 10.3184/003685017X14994318577435. Epub 2017 Aug 5.
Elemental carbon has been known from time immemorial in its forms of diamond and graphite, while the Industrial Revolution was powered by coal. The molecular structures of diamond and graphite were established following the inception of X-ray crystallography while the complex natures of charcoal and coal have been investigated for 100 years. Recent developments in activated charcoal are described in an article in this issue of Science Progress. However, no-one could have guessed that carbon would have presented such structural surprises as those of C60 fullerene, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. Materials science has benefited from the discovery of carbon fibres, and our understanding of the spectroscopy and bonding in the simplest carbon molecule, C2, has reached new depths.
自古以来，人们就知道碳元素以钻石和石墨的形式存在，而工业革命则由煤炭驱动。随着X射线晶体学的出现，钻石和石墨的分子结构得以确定，而木炭和煤炭的复杂性质也已经研究了100年。本期《科学进展》的一篇文章描述了活性炭的最新进展。然而，没有人能猜到碳会呈现出诸如C60富勒烯、碳纳米管和石墨烯这样的结构惊喜。材料科学受益于碳纤维的发现，我们对最简单的碳分子C2的光谱学和键合的理解也达到了新的深度。
