Cubic Carbon Polymorphs

This chapter reviews recent theoretical and experimental results on the structure–property relationships of cubic carbon polymorphs—a new class of dense crystalline carbon materials. At the start of the chapter, we briefly describe the evolution of carbon science toward the development of novel exotic carbon nanostructures. Next, we provide details of C−C bonding and intermolecular potential used for modeling of both crystalline and disordered phases of carbon. Then, we introduce four cubic carbon polymorphs investigated recently (fcc-C32, bcc-C20, fcc-C12, and fcc-C10). Their basic mechanical and electronic properties are presented and compared with that of a reference material, namely, cubic diamond. Finally, we discuss the impact of the internal pore structure of these cubic carbon polymorphs on the adsorption and transport of selected adsorbates (e.g., He, H2, Ne, Ar, and CO). Some potential applications of the most open fcc-C10 carbon polymorph in adsorptive recovery of He from gas mixtures are discussed.