Title: rhombohedral graphite
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - rhombohedral graphite
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.R05385
Status: current

Definition
A thermodynamically unstable allotropic form of graphite with an ABCABC stacking sequence of the layers. The exact crystallographic description of this allotropic form is given by the space group \(D_{3\rm{d}}^{5}- R\overline{3}m\), (unit cell constants: \(a=256.6\ \mathrm{pm}\), \(c=1006.2\ \mathrm{pm}\)).

Note
The structure of rhombohedral graphite can be best considered as an extended stacking fault in hexagonal graphite. Rhombohedral graphite can not be isolated in pure form (natural graphite and laboratory preparations contain less than 40% of rhombohedral graphite in combination with hexagonal graphite). It is produced by shear deformation of hexagonal graphite and transforms progressively to the hexagonal (ABAB) modification on heating above \(1600\ \rm{K}\).

Related Terms
- graphite: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/G02684
- hexagonal graphite: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/H02818
- natural graphite: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/N04088
- sequence: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/ST06775
- unit cell: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/U06562
- unstable: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/U06569

Source
- PAC, 1995, 67, 473. 'Recommended terminology for the description of carbon as a solid (IUPAC Recommendations 1995)' on page 504 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199567030473)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05385/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05385/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05385/xml

Citation: Citation: 'rhombohedral graphite' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.R05385
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-19T04:08:25+00:00