The room-temperature structural phase transition of graphite at elevated hydrostatic pressure has drawn considerable scientific interest for its fundamental importance in condensed matter physics and materials science over the past few decades. A pressure induced phase transition has been demonstrated in previous experiments by the measurement of electrical resistance, optical spectrum, X-ray diffraction spectrum, inelastic X-ray scattering and Raman spectroscopy. However, the nature of the cold-compressed graphite phase has been puzzling the experts and pioneers in the field of high pressure research due to some inherent factors, until recently a monoclinic structure, i.e. Mcarbon, stands out from the other structure candidates and successfully accounts for the crystal structure of the cold-compressed graphite phase both in theory and experiment that eventually putting an end to this long-lasting controversial issue. This paper reviews

the recent progress on the pressure-induced phase transitions of graphite at room temperature especially for the theoretical investigations. The review will focus on the recent proposed novel carbon allotropes as candidate structures of the cold-compressed graphite phase by using different crystal structure prediction methods. The history of structure determination of cold-compressed graphite phase is discussed.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0217984915300112