On the history of technical carbon

In a detailed and informative account, this paper describes the development of carbon products in the period from preshistory up until the present day. As an introduction, general information is provided on the different carbon allotropes as well as the tonnages of the different products and raw materials processed annually. At some length, carbon black, the oldest form of carbon used for technical applications, charcoal and coal coke are presented and explained comprehensibly. A further section deals with electrographite, other graphite products, and the numerous more recent innovations such as carbon fibres, graphite foils, reactor graphite, battery carbon, and fine-grained graphite.