Research On The Development Of Advanced Graphite Materials

Dr. Mutsuaki Murakami is a material researcher and engineer who developed various new materials and new devices by applying heat, electric current, and light to organic materials and realized their commercialization. What introduced in this book was the work of "heating organic matter to produce high quality graphite", which has grown into the biggest business among those achievements. Murakami was born in 1946. In 1970 he graduated from Ehime University Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Industrial Chemistry. In the same year, he joined Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (currently Panasonic corporation) started the life as a researcher and technology developer at Matsushita Research Institute of Tokyo (MRIT). In 1986, he received Ph.D. in Science from University of Tokyo. In 2001, he left Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and joined Kaneka Corporation. Since 2005, he has also been an invited professor at the Center for Extreme Environmental Research and Technology, Osaka University. In this book, I will discuss such ADVANCED GRAPHITE, and will explain why such advanced graphite is expected and what is being achieved now. The carbon atoms that make up graphite have a bond pattern consisting of three σ-electrons and one π-electron, and the three σ-electrons extend in three directions at an angle of 120 ° to each other to form a stable hexagonal plane. Such a single graphite layer is called graphene, and as expected from this structure, such a framework is theoretically considered to be extremely strong and stable. Figure 0-1 shows a graphene structure formed by three σ-bonds of carbon atoms. On graphene, the remaining π-electrons are free to move along the σ-bond path above and below the hexagonal framework. As a result, graphene has unique electrical and electronic properties. Graphite consists of regular stacks of graphene in this structure, and each graphene layer is bonded by a relatively weak van der Waals force. Due to this overlap, the π-electron behavior of graphite differs from that of graphene, but because it can move around relatively freely, it has various electrical, electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties that can only be realized in graphite. So, what exactly are the physical properties of an ideal graphite structure? Specific data will be discussed in Chapter 1, but typical physical properties will be compared with those of copper and silicon, which are considered to be the most important materials in the electronics industry today. The heat resistance of graphite is 3 times that of copper and 2 times that of silicon, the thermal conductivity is 8 times that of copper and 5.7 times that of silicon, the electrical conductivity is 1/20 times that of copper and 2.5 x 107 times that of silicon, and the carrier mobility is 750 times that of copper and 8 times that of silicon. Therefore, one would think that graphite, with such excellent properties, should be used more and more as a core material in the industry. However, in reality, few active devices use at least these properties of graphite. Why is this? The answer is quite simple, "graphite with such ideal properties had not been realized on an industrial scale until recently". In other words, it has been very difficult to produce graphite with ideal properties on an industrial scale produce graphite.