Graphite

Graphite Is a high energy stone that is an excellent component in wands. Often referred to as the "Stone of personal freedom," it is believed to be beneficial in helping one make the life changes needed for personal growth. It is thought to improve writing skills and provide better understanding of mathematical equations. It helps to stimulate cognitive thinking skills, encouraging its user toward greater learning and improves communication.

Though most popular for its presence in pencils, graphite has many applications including use in batteries, brake linings, electric motor brushes, carbon products, crucibles, nozzles, lubricants, refractories, rubber, and steelmaking. This mineral is also used to improve various manufacturing processes and their end products. Applications of graphite are dependent on whether the mineral is natural or synthetic, as well as if it is in solid or powder form.

Solid carbon comes in different forms known as allotropes depending on the type of chemical bond. The two most common are diamond and graphite (less common ones include buckminsterfullerene). In diamond the bonds are sp and the atoms form tetrahedra with each bound to four nearest neighbors. In graphite they are sp orbital hybrids and the atoms form in planes with each bound to three nearest neighbors 120 degrees apart. The individual layers are called graphene. In each layer, the carbon atoms are arranged in a honeycomb lattice with a bond length of 0.142 nm, and the distance between planes is 0.335 nm. Atoms in the plane are bonded covalently, with only three of the four potential bonding sites satisfied. The fourth electron is free to migrate in the plane, making graphite electrically conductive. Bonding between layers is via weak van der Waals bonds, which allow layers of graphite to be easily separated, or to slide past each other. Electrical conductivity perpendicular to the layers is consequently about 1000 times lower.

Graphite occurs in metamorphic rocks as a result of the reduction of sedimentary carbon compounds during metamorphism. It also occurs in igneous rocks and in meteorites. Minerals associated with graphite include quartz, calcite, micas and tourmaline. The principal export sources of mined graphite are in order of tonnage: China, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and Madagascar. In meteorites, graphite occurs with troilite and silicate minerals. Small graphitic crystals in meteoritic iron are called cliftonite. Some microscopic grains have distinctive isotopic compositions, indicating that they were formed before the Solar system. They are one of about 12 known types of mineral that predate the Solar System and have also been detected in molecular clouds. These minerals were formed in the ejecta when supernovae exploded or low- to intermediate-sized stars expelled their outer envelopes late in their lives. Graphite may be the second or third oldest mineral in the Universe.

The principal types of natural graphite, each occurring in different types of ore deposits, are

Crystalline small flakes of graphite (or flake graphite) occurs as isolated, flat, plate-like particles with hexagonal edges if unbroken. When broken the edges can be irregular or angular;

Amorphous graphite: very fine flake graphite is sometimes called amorphous;

Lump graphite (or vein graphite) occurs in fissure veins or fractures and appears as massive platy intergrowths of fibrous or acicular crystalline aggregates, and is probably hydrothermal in origin.

Highly ordered pyrolytic graphite refers to graphite with an angular spread between the graphite sheets of less than 1°.

The name "graphite fiber" is sometimes used to refer to carbon fibers or carbon fiber-reinforced polymer.