The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry designated the isotope C-12 as the basis for atomic weights, while the unstable isotope C-14, with a half-life of 5700 years, is used for carbon dating.

Carbon-based compounds are the basis for all living systems and comprise the structure of fossil fuels in the form of hydrocarbons.

Carbon’s small size allows it to form multiple bonds with many other small atoms, including carbon atoms, and is prevalent in a large number of chemical compounds. Four allotropes of carbon are known: amorphous (e.g., charcoal and soot), graphite, diamond, and fullerenes. The XPS of nanodiamond should show a single C1s peak, with a binding energy characteristic of sp 3 carbon (around 286 eV). On the other hand, nanodiamond consists of sp 3 bonded carbons. Obtained from: burning with insufficient oxygenĬarbon has been known since ancient times when it was produced by burning organic material in the presence of insufficient oxygen. Thus, theoretically the XPS of pure graphite would show a single C1s peak, with a binding energy characteristic of sp 2 carbon (around 284.2 eV).