Local structure of Amorphous carbon investigated by X-ray total scattering and RMC modeling

Amorphous carbon is a promising candidate as an energy storage material. In this paper, we performed an X-ray total scattering measurement, RMC modeling, and persistent homology analysis for amorphous carbon samples fabricated at two different heat treatment temperatures. According to the analysis of the nearest-neighbor carbon atoms and their angular histogram, the sample treated at higher temperature shows higher connectivity between carbon atoms than that treated at lower temperature. Furthermore, topological data analysis (persistent homology, PH) reveals quantitative results that relate ring structure and the connectivity between carbon atoms.