Structure of substances

Every substance has a structure thats the way in which the atoms and the bonds between them are arranged. There are two main kinds of structure: Giant structures in which the atoms (or ions) are arranged in regular arrays called lattices which carry on forever (well, to the edge of the substance). Simple molecules in which the atoms are arranged to make individual separate molecules. Each molecule has exactly the same arrangement of atoms and bonds in it.

Firstly we are going to find out about GIANT IONIC STRUCTURES. This is the kind of structure that every substance with IONIC BONDING has.

crystals of sodium chloride, with a giant ionic structure

All substances with ionic bonding have giant ionic lattice structures. Each positively charged ion attracts all the negatively charged ions around it, and each negatively charged ion attracts all the positively charged ions around it. This results in: - a regular geometric arrangement of ions (a lattice) - strong bonds holding the ions together

inside a sodium chloride crystal Back to list of topics Carry on to covalent bonding and structure

Substances with ionic bonding and giant ionic lattices have common properties: 1: Because of the strong bonds, it takes a lot of energy to break down the lattice and separate the ions into a liquid (molten) state, or a vapour. The greater the charge on the ions, the stronger the bonds between them. They therefore have high melting and boiling points - MgO (Mg2+ and O2-) has an even higher melting point than NaCl (Na+ and Cl-) 2: The ions are firmly held in the lattice and cannot move. However when the lattice has been melted or dissolved the ions, which are charged particles, are free to move.

Therefore they dont conduct electricity when they are solid, but do conduct electricity when molten or dissolved in a solution.

End of ionic bonding and structure

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In this section we are going to find out about GIANT COVALENT STRUCTURES and SIMPLE MOLECULES . They are very different, but they have in common the fact that they are held together by COVALENT BONDS
Diamond has a giant covalent structure

Sulphur atoms are arranged in simple molecules containing rings of eight atoms

Air bubbles trapped in ice. Oxygen, nitrogen and water all have simple molecular structures

Substances with covalent bonding form two types of structures. Simple Molecular structure Atoms form separate distinct molecules Atoms covalently bonded within each molecule Weak forces between individual molecules (called intermolecular forces) e.g. water, methane, ammonia Giant Covalent structures Atoms form one giant lattice Atoms in lattice covalently bonded Strong bonds throughout the structure e.g. diamond, quartz, graphite

weak force between molecules

strong bonds inside molecules

Substances with simple molecular structures have characteristic properties: 1) Because there are only weak forces holding each molecule to the other molecules, only a small amount of energy is required to separate the molecules from each other. This is what happens when the substance is melted, and boiled. Simple molecular structures therefore have low melting and boiling points NOTE: no covalent bonds are broken when these substances melt the molecules remain intact, just separated from each other and able to move. 2) There are no ions with charges in simple molecular substances, so these cannot carry electrical charge. The electrons are not free to move around either, being held in bonds or in shells around the atoms. As a result there is nothing to carry charge. Simple molecular structures therefore do not conduct electricity, even when molten.

Substances with giant covalent structures have different characteristic properties to those with simple covalent structures: 1) Because there are strong covalent bonds throughout the lattice these have to be broken in order for the particles to be able to move around in a liquid or gaseous state. Breaking these strong bonds requires a lot of energy therefore

Giant covalent structures have very high melting and boiling points

2) There are no ions with charges in giant covalent lattices, so these cannot carry electrical charge. The electrons are not free to move around either, being held in bonds or in shells around the atoms. As a result there are no charge carriers. Giant covalent structures do not conduct electricity, even when molten. (The exception to this is graphite see next page)
graphite

diamond

quartz (silicon dioxide)

You need to know about three specific examples of giant covalent structures:

Diamond and silicon dioxide (quartz) are incredibly hard materials this is because of the strong three-dimensional lattice of covalent bonds holding all the atoms in place. As a result diamond and quartz also have extremely high melting points. Graphite has a giant structure with layers. Each carbon atom in the layer bonds to three others, leaving one electron free. There are only weak forces holding the layers together. Graphite is therefore softer and slippery because the layers can slide over each other. Graphite is the lead in pencils it writes because flakes of graphite can slide off the pencil point and onto the paper. The one spare electron on each carbon atom becomes delocalised (like in metals) and is free to move through the lattice, allowing graphite to conduct electricity.

Fullerenes have a different kind of structure they are molecular structures rather than lattices which go on forever, but have large numbers of atoms in a regular 2D sheets or 3D arrangement, typically formed from hexagonal or pentagonal rings of carbon atoms. We call these macromolecules, or giant molecular structures. Fullerenes are a current research area, being applied for: drug delivery into the body lubricants catalysts strong structural materials

C60 buckminsterfullerene. An English researcher, Sir Harry Kroto, gained a Nobel Prize for his discovery of this first fullerene.

Carbon nanotubes like these could deliver drugs to targets inside the body in the future

Polymers are also examples of macromolecules with covalent bonding. Each

polymer chain is a a single huge molecule. The polymer chains form a tangled web (imagine a plate of spaghetti).
Their properties depend on how each polymer chain is held to the other chains. In a thermosoftening polymer, there are only weak intermolecular forces holding the chains to one another. In a thermosetting polymer there are strong covalent bonds cross-linking the chains, locking them together.

Thermosoftening

Thermosetting

Thermosoftening polymers have weak forces between polymer chains

Thermosetting polymers We cannot soften all plastics. Some monomers also make chemical bonds between the polymer chains when they are first heated in order to shape them. We say they are cross-linked. These bonds are strong they stop the plastic from softening when we heat it in the future. Examples: epoxy resins polyurethanes acrylics

when heated the weak intermolecular forces are broken and the plastic becomes soft
when cooled the intermolecular forces bind the molecules together again and the plastic hardens Examples: poly(ethene) -also known as -polythene poly(chloroethene)

- also known as PVC

For any one specific polymer, its properties can also depend on the conditions under which the reaction is carried out: e.g. for poly(ethene):
Conditions Very high pressure Trace of oxygen Conditions Catalyst at 50oC Slightly raised pressure

ethene

low-density poly(ethene) (LD PE)

Properties Weaker than HDPE Lower softening temperature More flexible

high-density poly(ethene) (HD PE)

Properties Stronger than LDPE Higher softening temp. More rigid

In this section we are going to find out how metals have GIANT METALLIC STRUCTURES which are held together by METALLIC BONDS
sodium metal shiny when cut gold atoms, arranged in a regular lattice

Metals have a giant structure. We can see from high-resolution microscope images that the metal atoms are arranged in regular lattices: layers of metal atoms arranged regularly
at higher resolution the individual atoms in the lattice can be seen

It is clear that metals too have bonds holding the metal atoms together we know this because metals typically have high melting points. This tells us not only that metal atoms are joined together with some kind of bonds, but also that the bonds are strong it takes a lot of energy to overcome them to melt the metal. The type of bonding in metals is called metallic bonding, and the structure is called a giant metallic lattice.

Metals have a number of properties which result from their giant metallic structure:
1) They have high melting and boiling points because the bonds holding the lattice together are strong metallic bonds, which take lots of energy to overcome. 2) They conduct electricity (solid or molten), because the delocalised electrons are free to move, carrying electrical charge. 3) The layers of ions in pure metals can slide over each other, so metals arent brittle they are ductile and malleable. What happens when a metal is drawn out into a wire is that the layers of atoms slide over each other, and as the wire thins out the atoms slot in behind each other. They are able to do this because its the attraction to the electrons which is holding the metal together, and the electrons are free to move and flow.

The ions in pure metals are arranged in regular layers, which can easily slide over each other. This makes the pure metals very soft and easily shaped too soft for most uses.

structure of pure metal

Pure gold is too soft to use as jewellery and so a little silver is often added

To make metals more useful, we add small amounts of other elements. This has the effect of disrupting the regular structure of metal ions, so the layers cant slide over each other. The resulting material is much stronger.

structure of an alloy
We call a metal that has had other elements added an alloy.

Cast iron is very brittle because it contains carbon atoms too.

If you look at a sheet of metal, especially galvanised steel, you may be able to see that it is composed of metal crystals called grains. Within each grain the layers of atoms are all well aligned, but the alignment in adjacent crystals is different. Between the grains are grain boundaries.
grain boundary

a grain

Metals are annealed (heated and cooled) to change the size of the grains, which changes the properties (hardness and brittleness) of the metal.

Smart Alloys (or Shape Memory Alloys) are newly developed metal alloys with very unusual properties. If we bend or deform them when they are cool, they stay bent, but when we warm them up they return to their original shape. Nitinol is a type of shape memory alloy made from nickel and titanium. This material can be used to make frames for glasses that can remember their shape and do not break when crushed. Nitinol has also been used to hold badly broken bones in place whilst they heal. Doctors cool the alloy before it is wrapped around the broken bone. When it heats up again the alloy goes back to its original shape, pulling the bones back together and holding them while they heal. Dentists have made braces to push teeth into the right position using this technique. Smart alloy braces are expensive, but more comfortable because the brace stops pushing once the teeth are in the right place.

1 nm = 10-9 m Thats 1 millionth of a millimetre !

Nanoscience in this region

This diagram compares the sizes of different objects, and what technology is needed to see them. Nanoscience is done in the region between 1 to 100nm in size, which corresponds to structures of a few hundred atoms. At this scale things cant be seen with the human eye, nor even with a light microscope.

At this scale we encounter different properties compared to the bulk material

which make new applications nanotechnology possible. Nanoparticles have a very high surface area to volume ratio, which makes them potentially excellent catalysts. They may also have unusual properties such as being able to stick to virtually anything. The high surface area can also make nanoparticles very flammable ! Nanodevices e.g. processors or sensors - may use much less energy than larger scale devices, and therefore be more environmentally friendly, or be used where providing power is difficult. Nanosensors may be able to detect much smaller amounts of substances than larger sensors indeed nanosensors which can detect a single molecule of a substance have been made. Nanostructures have unusual strength, making very lightweight but strong structures possible e.g. for very small scale machines, or repairs in the body after microsurgery.