Effect of intercalation of alkali and halogen species into the low density carbon crystal 'carbolite'

A new crystal phase of carbon, 'carbolite', was synthesized which consists of a parallel array of carbon chains. The array is made of a triangular lattice of which the inter-chain distance is 0.344 nm and the mean inter-atomic distance is 0.133 nm. The inter-chain space yields intercalations. Potassium, sodium and iodine are shown to intercalate carbolite; the electrical resistance of the material after the reaction is lowered by six orders of magnitude compared to that of initial stage of the intercalated carbolite. Bromine and ICl do not intercalate; instead, they dissolve carbolite.