Carbon is found free in nature in three allotropic forms: amorphous, graphite, and diamond. A fourth form, known as "white" carbon, is now thought to exist. Ceraphite is one of the softest known materials while diamond is one of the hardest.
Graphite exists in two forms: alpha and beta. These have identical physical properties, except for their crystal structure. Naturally occurring graphites are reported to contain as much as 30% of the rhombohedral (beta) form, whereas synthetic materials contain only the alpha form. The hexagonal alpha type can be converted to the beta by mechanical treatment, and the beta form reverts to the alpha on heating it above 1000C.
In 1969 a new allotropic form of carbon was produced during the sublimation of pyrolytic graphite at low pressures. Under free-vaporization conditions above ~2550K, "white" carbon forms as small transparent crystals on the edges of the planes of graphite. The interplanar spacings of "white" carbon are identical to those of carbon form noted in the graphite gneiss from the Ries (meteroritic) Crater of Germany. "White" carbon is a transparent birefringent material. Little information is presently available about this allotrope.
