Reaction of layered carbon fluorides CxF (x = 2.5–3.6) and hydrogen Original Research Article

The layered carbon fluorides CxF (x = 2.5, 2.8, 3.6), generally classified as fluorine–graphite intercalation compounds, were heat-treated in hydrogen gas. These fluorides are more reactive with hydrogen compared to (CF)n and (C2F)n. Reduction of CxF to graphite-like carbon starts at about 573 K, and proceeds gradually along with the elevation of temperature. Fluorine atoms in CxF are eliminated as HF in the reduction process without being substituted by hydrogen atoms. Systematic difference was not found in the average crystallite sizes of the carbon material prepared from CxF by the reduction with hydrogen and that by the pyrolysis in vacuum. On the other hand, interlayer distance and fluorine content of the former are smaller than those of the latter. In the case that the CxF precursor maintains a large particle size, the reduced carbon as well as the pyrolytically prepared carbon possesses a foam-like shape due to the exfoliation during the heat treatment.