Graphite is critical for lithium-ion batteries as well as the synthesis of graphene. We are working on how graphite forms so that we can reduce the cost of synthesis. We have begun to answer some critical questions including; What is the mechanism by which graphite forms? Why do most materials not convert into graphite? Why does making graphite take >2500 degrees Celcius but graphite forms underground at 1000 degrees Celcius? What are the defects that can be annealed during graphitisation? What are the defects that cannot be removed with annealing in most materials that can't form graphite? How do graphitising materials go through a liquid phase and align? Why do curved molecules disrupt this alignment? 

We are also developing advanced visualisation tools such as virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D printing to better understand the mechanisms involved. 

Collaborators - Dr Nigel Marks, Dr Irene Suarez-Martinez, Jason Fogg, Kate Putman, Gabriel Francas, Ethan Turner, Dr Kimberly Bowal, Prof. Markus Kraft.

Contributions

• Preprint Martin, J. W., Fogg, J. L., Putman, K. J., Francas, G., Turner, E. P., Marks, N. A., & Suarez-Martinez, I. (2022). Graphite forms via annihilation of screw dislocations. arXiv preprint arXiv:2206.09105.

• Bowal, K., Grancic, P., Martin, J. W., & Kraft, M. (2019). Sphere Encapsulated Monte Carlo: Obtaining Minimum Energy Configurations of Large Aromatic Systems. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 123(33), 7303-7313. 

• Bowal, K., Martin, J. W., & Kraft, M. (2019). Partitioning of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in heterogeneous clusters. Carbon, 143, 247-256. 

Presentation

• Virtual reality visualisation of carbon structure (Credit: Callum Wood)

How are the atoms arranged in disordered carbon materials such as charcoal, activated carbon and glassy carbon? This is an old problem in carbon science but an important one as disordered carbons are the industrial workhorse of carbon materials. These uses include 

• Carbon capture and storage (charcoal/biochar)

• Supercapacitors

• Sodium ion batteries

• Water/gas purification

• Hydrogen storage

We were able to show that the lack of a common curved fullerene molecule, C60, was due to the thermal fusing of fullerenes and intercalation of oxygen. 

Using new reactive molecular dynamics simulations prepared by the Carbon Group at Curtin University, the global topology of the network was determined. A net-negative fulleroid-like nanostructure was found with screw dislocations allowing ribbons to form as the density increased. Read More in the Blog Post

Collaborators - Dr Nigel Marks, Dr Irene Suarez-Martinez, Dr Carla de Tomas, Prof. Markus Kraft, Dr Leonard Nyadong, Prof. Caterina Ducati, Prof. Alan Marshall, Prof. Merrilyn Manley-Harris.

Contributions

• Martin, J. W., de Tomas, C., Suarez-Martinez, I., Kraft, M., & Marks, N. A. (2019). Topology of disordered 3D graphene networks. Physical Review Letters, 123(11), 116105. 

• Martin, J. W., Nyadong, L., Ducati, C., Manley-Harris, M., Marshall, A. G., & Kraft, M. (2019). Nanostructure of Gasification Charcoal (Biochar). Environmental science & technology, 53(7), 3538-3546. 

Press release

• https://phys.org/news/2019-09-topology-disordered-d-graphenes-rosalind.html 

Presentation

• Carbon conference 2019 "Topology of disordered graphene networks"

• Carbon Conference 2019 "Understanding the lack of fullerenes in fullerene-like carbons"

What are the molecular species that self-assemble into carbon black/soot? The formation of soot is an old problem in physical chemistry that has yet to be solved. 

Some of the insights we have made into this problem include:

• revealing fullerene-like curved aromatic molecules are electrically polarised (flexoelectric) that can couple electrical and chemical soot mechanisms,

• mechanical properties of soot particles reveals there are chemical crosslinks in early soot particles,

• computationally screened the reactivity of aromatic soot precursors to determine which reactions are too slow to explain the rapid formation of soot (most of them),

• reviewed the literature on possible routes for soot formation and highlighted a middle way that includes molecules physically condensing followed by chemically crosslinking.

Collaborators - Dr Laura Pascazio, Angiras Menon, Dingyu Hou, Xiaoqing You, Kimberly Bowal, Gustavo Leon and Prof. Markus Kraft

Contributions

• Martin, J. W., Salamanca, M., & Kraft, M. (2022). Soot inception: Carbonaceous nanoparticle formation in flames. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 88, 100956.

• Martin, J. W., Pascazio, L., Menon, A., Akroyd, J., Kaiser, K., Schulz, F., ... & Kraft, M. (2021). π-Diradical aromatic soot precursors in flames. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 143(31), 12212-12219.

• Martin, J. W., Hou, D., Menon, A., Pascazio, L., Akroyd, J., You, X., & Kraft, M. (2019). Reactivity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Soot Precursors: Implications of Localized π-Radicals on Rim-Based Pentagonal Rings. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 123(43), 26673-26682. 

• Menon, A., Martin, J. W., Akroyd, J., & Kraft, M. (2020). Reactivity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Soot Precursors: Kinetics and Equilibria. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 

• Menon, A., Martin, J., Leon, G., Hou, D., Pascazio, L., You, X., & Kraft, M. (2020). Reactive localized π-radicals on rim-based pentagonal rings: Properties and concentration in flames. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute. 

• Menon, A., Dreyer, J. A., Martin, J. W., Akroyd, J., Robertson, J., & Kraft, M. (2019). Optical band gap of cross-linked, curved, and radical polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 21(29), 16240-16251. 

• Pascazio, L., Martin, J. W., Bowal, K., Akroyd, J., & Kraft, M. (2020). Exploring the internal structure of soot particles using nanoindentation: A reactive molecular dynamics study. Combustion and Flame, 219, 45-56. 

• Salamanca, M., Botero, M. L., Martin, J. W., Dreyer, J. A., Akroyd, J., & Kraft, M. (2020). The impact of cyclic fuels on the formation and structure of soot. Combustion and Flame, 219, 1-12. 

• Botero, M. L., Sheng, Y., Akroyd, J., Martin, J., Dreyer, J. A., Yang, W., & Kraft, M. (2019). Internal structure of soot particles in a diffusion flame. Carbon, 141, 635-642. 

• Pascazio, L., Martin, J. W., Botero, M. L., Sirignano, M., D’Anna, A., & Kraft, M. (2019). Mechanical properties of soot particles: the impact of crosslinked polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Combustion Science and Technology, 1-21. 

• Grančič, P., Martin, J. W., Chen, D., Mosbach, S., & Kraft, M. (2016). Can nascent soot particles burn from the inside?. Carbon, 109, 608-615. 

• Martin, J. W., Slavchov, R. I., Yapp, E. K., Akroyd, J., Mosbach, S., & Kraft, M. (2017). The polarization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons curved by pentagon incorporation: the role of the flexoelectric dipole. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 121(48), 27154-27163. 

• Martin, J. W., Bowal, K., Menon, A., Slavchov, R. I., Akroyd, J., Mosbach, S., & Kraft, M. (2019). Polar curved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soot formation. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 37(1), 1117-1123. 

• Martin, J. W., Menon, A., Lao, C. T., Akroyd, J., & Kraft, M. (2019). Dynamic polarity of curved aromatic soot precursors. Combustion and Flame, 206, 150-157. 

• Bowal, K., Martin, J. W., Misquitta, A. J., & Kraft, M. (2019). Ion-induced soot nucleation using a new potential for curved aromatics. Combustion Science and Technology, 191(5-6), 747-765. 

• Salamanca, M., Botero, M. L., Martin, J. W., Dreyer, J. A., Akroyd, J., & Kraft, M. (2020). The impact of cyclic fuels on the formation and structure of soot. Combustion and Flame, 219, 1-12. 

• Martin, J. W., Botero, M., Slavchov, R. I., Bowal, K., Akroyd, J., Mosbach, S., & Kraft, M. (2018). Flexoelectricity and the formation of carbon nanoparticles in flames. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 122(38), 22210-22215. 

Presentations

• Carbon Webinar 2021

How do fullerenes form in a carbon arc and transform under heating? 

Blog posts and press releases

• Behind the scenes Part 1: Giant fullerene formation through thermal treatment of fullerene soot, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Collaborators - Dr Reece Oosterbeek, Rakesh Arul, Dr Grant McIntosh, Prof. Markus Kraft and Prof. Tilo Söhnel

Contributions

• Martin, J. W., McIntosh, G. J., Arul, R., Oosterbeek, R. N., Kraft, M., & Söhnel, T. (2017). Giant fullerene formation through thermal treatment of fullerene soot. Carbon, 125, 132-138. 

Presentations

• Slides for Carbon paper