Structure of Carbon Nanospheres Modified with Oxygen-Containing Groups and Halogens

In the present work for the first time, it is investigated the structure and chemical composition of the modified with oxygen groups, chlorine, and bromine carbon nanospheres (CNS) synthesized by the high-voltage high-frequency electrical discharge treatment of the propane–butane gas mixture. The composition and structure of CNS were studied by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy (RS). An increase in the intensities of X-ray reflexes (002) and wide-angle background in functionalized CNS-X (X = O, Cl, Br) was established. This is due to the electron density transfer from the X atoms to the CNS. The existence of regions of higher and lower ordering in the CNS is shown. A decrease in graphite interplanar distances with an increase in the number of electrons in functionalizing atoms was established. For the first time, the presence of a diamond-like structure (DLS) in electric-discharge CNS and its change during functionalization was confirmed by studying the structure of vibrational bands and observing spectral components in the regions of 1150–1260–1305 cm−1. A universal concept of the disordering of graphite and diamond-like structures by multiplying the unit cell sizes is proposed, which serves as a reliable basis for interpreting the structure of the observed vibrational bands.