In recent years the Japanese have funded a comprehensive study of carbon materials which incorporate other elements including boron, nitrogen and fluorine, hence the title of the project "Carbon Alloys."

Coined in 1992, the phrase "Carbon Alloys" can be applied to those materials mainly composed of carbon materials in multi-component systems. The carbon atoms of each component have a physical and/or chemical interactive relationship with other atoms or compounds. The carbon atoms of the components may have different hybrid bonding orbitals to create quite different carbon components....