Fullerenes as nuclei of carbon black particles

The existing models for the structure and inception processes of carbon black particles are analyzed taking into account the experimental data on the cluster formation. A new model of the formation of carbon black particles is proposed. The inference is made that single-layer fullerenes being the minimum possible closed carbon black particles serve as nuclei of large-sized carbon black particles. These particles grow via the deposition of carbon layers on the surface of fullerenes with defects. The defects fulfill the role of seeds that give rise to the front of the layer growth. The defect-free fullerenes do not take part in the carbon black formation due to the thermodynamic stability as a result of structural perfection. The primary carbon black particles-globules-are many-layer formations with a hole in the center whose size and configuration match the size and configuration of the initial fullerene nucleus. The layers in the form of concentric spheroids inserted into each other are composed of distorted and defect carbon networks. The flatest parts of several outer layers of carbon black particles are the regions of the coherent X-ray scattering. (C) 2000 MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica.