Carbon
(information)
Non-organic Compositions
Known Methods of Extraction
### **Extraction from Natural Sources** 1. **Coal Mining**: - Carbon is extracted in the form of coal, primarily used for energy production and industrial processes. 2. **Charcoal Production**: - Wood or organic matter is burned in low-oxygen environments to produce charcoal, a form of almost pure carbon. 3. **Graphite Mining**: - Graphite, a crystalline form of carbon, is mined from natural deposits. 4. **Extraction from Natural Gas**: - Carbon is present in hydrocarbons like methane (CH₄) and is separated during natural gas processing. 5. **Carbon Capture from CO₂**: - Emerging technologies capture carbon dioxide from air or industrial emissions and reduce it to elemental carbon. --- ### **Industrial Processes** 6. **Coke Production**: - Coal is heated in the absence of air to produce coke, a carbon-rich material used in steelmaking. 7. **Petroleum Refining**: - Carbon is separated as coke or other byproducts during the refining of crude oil. 8. **Synthesis from Hydrocarbons**: - Hydrocarbons like methane are cracked or burned to produce elemental carbon (e.g., soot or carbon black). 9. **Electrolysis of Carbon Compounds**: - Carbon is isolated from certain compounds through electrolysis, such as from molten salts. 10. **Thermal Decomposition of Organic Compounds**: - Organic compounds like sugar or acetylene are heated to form pure carbon (e.g., in carbon black production). --- ### **Advanced Methods** 11. **Pyrolysis**: - Organic matter is heated in the absence of oxygen, breaking down into carbon-rich residues. 12. **Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)**: - Carbon is deposited as a thin film from gaseous hydrocarbons in a controlled environment (used for graphene and diamond synthesis). 13. **Graphene Production**: - Graphene is extracted from graphite or synthesized chemically from organic precursors. 14. **Diamond Synthesis**: - High-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) methods or CVD techniques are used to produce synthetic diamonds from carbon sources like graphite or methane. 15. **Biochar Production**: - Organic waste is thermally decomposed in low-oxygen environments to produce biochar, a form of carbon. --- ### **Alternative and Emerging Sources** 16. **Carbon Extraction from Biomass**: - Organic materials such as plant residues are converted to carbon through pyrolysis or hydrothermal processes. 17. **Extraction from Carbonate Rocks**: - Carbonates (e.g., limestone) are heated to release carbon dioxide, which can be reduced to elemental carbon. 18. **Recovery from Industrial Waste**: - Carbon is recovered from industrial byproducts, such as spent catalysts or waste streams from chemical processes. 19. **Extraction from Seawater**: - Trace amounts of carbon are extracted during desalination or from dissolved CO₂ in seawater. 20. **Carbon Nanotube Synthesis**: - Carbon nanotubes are produced through processes like arc discharge, laser ablation, or CVD using carbon-containing gases.