Graphite

Natural Flake Graphite is an industrial mineral with unique properties primarily due to its structure

• It is a pure form of carbon where flat hexagonal platelets are stacked on each other like a deck of cards, held together by relatively weak intermolecular forces.
• It is a mineral with very anisotropic properties, that is, the partical’s electrical, thermal, physical and chemical properties are different in the plane axis along the layers of platelets than in the vertical axis going through the layers. Like a metal, it has high electrical and thermal conductivity along its planar axis, yet relatively poor going through the layers.
• These weakly bonded layers give graphite its slipperiness or lubricity.
• Paradoxically, graphite is one of the softest minerals, yet stronger per unit weight than steel.
• It's strength increases as its temperature is increased.
• Graphite absorbs energy regardless of the source making it ideal for sports equipment such as tennis racquets, fishing rods, golf clubs, etc.
• It is inert to almost all substances including corrosive chemicals even at elevated temperatures making it ideal for gaskets, packing material, brake and clutch plates, etc.
• Graphite is replacing asbestos in many areas because of the hazards associated with that mineral.
• Graphite can withstand a wide range of temperature from very cold levels to >3000°C in inert and reducing atmospheres and vacuum making it invaluable in many applications ranging from cryogenic to nuclear reactor temperature levels.
• Graphite acts as a neutron moderator, a requirement for thermal nuclear reactors.
• Graphite flake can be exfoliated into thinner and thinner sheets much like expanded vermiculite or popcorn when heated under controlled conditions.
• If exfoliation is taken to the extreme, individual sheets of "graphene" can be formed. These are one-atom thick layers of carbon with properties that rival steel in strength, silicon in quality for integrated circuitry, and copper in electrical conductivity.