Effect of Irradiation with a Continuous Beam of Accelerated Electrons on the Texture and Nanostructure of Carbon Black: a Study by Adsorption and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy

Textural, structural, and morphological changes occurring in globular carbon black of various particle size fractions under continuous irradiation with a continuous beam of 2.5-MeV accelerated electrons were studied by the methods of adsorption and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The electron irradiation leads to pronounced transformation of the solid globular framework of carbon black mainly into graphite-like nanocapsules of 10–50 nm size with the spacing between the graphene layers of the order of 0.355 nm. The observed effect leads to a decrease in the porosity (by a factor of approximately 1.65) and in the specific surface area (by a factor of 3–4) of the irradiated samples. This may be due to the transformation of the turbostratic (practically amorphous) form of carbon black into the nanostructured state with denser packing of carbon particles. The physicochemical properties of such carbon should be primarily determined by the structure of the solid framework.