Physical Chemistry Of Inorganic Crystalline Solids

The field of Physical Chemistry has developed through the application of theories and concepts developed by physicists to properties or processes of interest to chemists. Physicists, being principally concerned with the basic ideas, have generally restricted their attention to the simplest systems to which the concepts applied, and the task of applying the techniques and theories to the myriad substances and processes that comprise chemistry has been that of the physical chemists. The field of Solid State Chemistry has developed with a major impetus from the synthetic chemists who prepared unusual, novel materials with the principal guid ing ideas growing out of an understanding of crystal structure and crystal structure relationships. The novel materials that pour forth from this chemical cornucopia cry out for further characterization and interpretation. The major techniques for the characterization and interpretation of crystalline solids have been developed in the fields of Solid State Physics and Crystallography. Thus, the need arose for expanding the realm of Physical Chemistry from its traditional concern with molecules and their properties and reactions to include the physics and chemistry of crystalline solids. This book deals with the applications of crystallography, group theory and thermodynamics to problems dealing with non molecular crystalline solids.

This book is about the underlying principles of symmetry, thermodynamics and electronic structure that pertain to crystalline solids. After years of teaching graduate students in the areas covered, the author has a good idea of what major notions of group theory and thermodynamics are useful to students of solid state chemistry, and of what fundamental concepts are necessary for a clear understanding. Thus the book deals with lattice symmetry, space groups, reciprocal space, Landau theory, X-ray diffraction, heterogeneous equilibria and simple band theory, in a rigorous and thorough treatment.

The study of crystal structures has had an ever increasing impact on many fields of science such as physics, chemistry, biology, materials science, medicine, pharmacy, metallurgy, mineralogy and geology. Particularly, with the advent of direct methods of structure determination, the data on crystal structures are accumulating at an unbelievable pace and it becomes more and more difficult to oversee this wealth of data. A crude rationalization of the structures of organic compounds and the atom coordinations can be made with the well-known Kekule model, however, no such generally applicable model exists for the structures of inorganiC and particularly intermetallic compounds. There is a need to rationalize the inorganic crystal structures, to find better ways of describing them, of denoting the geometrical relationships between them, of elucidating the electronic factors and of explaining the bonding between the atoms with the aim of not only having a better understanding of the known structures, but also of predicting structural features of new compounds.

For undergraduate students of chemistry, physics crystallography, electronics and material sciences.

The first broad account offering a non-mathematical, unified treatment of solid state chemistry. Describes synthetic methods, X-ray diffraction, principles of inorganic crystal structures, crystal chemistry and bonding in solids; phase diagrams of 1, 2 and 3 component systems; the electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of solids; three groups of industrially important inorganic solids--glass, cement, and refractories; and certain aspects of organic solid state chemistry, including the ``organic metal'' of new materials.

The research of unitary concepts in solid state and molecular chemistry is of current interest for both chemist and physicist communities. It is clear that due to their relative simplicity, low dimensional materials have attracted most of the attention. Thus, many non-trivial problems were solved in chain systems, giving some insight into the behavior of real systems which would otherwise be untractable. The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Organic and Inorganic Low-Dimensional Crystalline Materials" was organized to review the most striking electronic properties exhibited by organic and inorganic sytems whose space dimensionality ranges from zero (Od) to one (1d), and to discuss related scientific and technological potentials. The initial objectives of this Workshop were, respectively: i) To research unitary concepts in solid state physics, in particular for one dimensional compounds, ii) To reinforce, through a close coupling between theory and experiment, the interplay between organic and inorganic chemistry, on the one hand, and solid state physics on the other, iii) To get a salient understanding of new low-dimensional materials showing "exotic" physical properties, in conjunction with structural features.

The essential introduction to the understanding of the structure of inorganic solids and materials. This revised and updated 2nd Edition looks at new developments and research results within Structural Inorganic Chemistry in a number of ways, special attention is paid to crystalline solids, elucidation and description of the spatial order of atoms within a chemical compound. Structural principles of inorganic molecules and solids are described through traditional concepts, modern bond-theoretical theories, as well as taking symmetry as a leading principle.