Allotropes Research

CARBON RESEARCH: Basic Knowledge: Carbon has several important allotropes. Some have been long known; others have only recently been discovered. The present-day uses and possible future uses of these allotropes are related to their physical properties, which in turn are determined by their crystalline or molecular structure. Allotropes: Allotropes are forms of the same element that have different physical properties (such as C, O, P, Sn and S). The difference in properties between allotropes relates to the arrangement of atoms in molecules or crystals. Some are more stable than others. - Allotropes, www.austute.com.au Types of Carbon Allotropes:

DIAMOND: - It is used for industrial applications and jewellery due to its hardness and high dispersion of light. The dominant industrial use of diamond is in cutting, drilling, grinding, and polishing - Each carbon atom in diamond is covalently bonded to four other carbons in a tetrahedron. These tetrahedrons together form a 3dimensional network of puckered six-membered rings of atoms. This stable network of covalent bonds and the three dimensional arrangement of bonds makes diamonds so strong. AMORPHOUS CARBON: -

Amorphous carbon is formed when a material containing carbon is burned without enough oxygen for it to burn completely. This black soot, also known as lampblack, gas black, channel black or carbon black, is used to make inks, paints and rubber products. It can also be pressed into shapes and is used to form the cores of most dry cell batteries, among other things.

Emma Boyd

Chemistry

23.08.2012

FULLERENES: - They are molecules composed entirely of carbon, which take the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube. Spherical fullerenes are sometimes called buckyballs, while cylindrical fullerenes are called buckytubes or nanotubes. - Fullerenes are similar in structure to graphite, which is composed of a sheet of linked hexagonal rings, but they contain pentagonal (or sometimes heptagonal) rings that prevent the sheet from being planar.

Emma Boyd

Chemistry

23.08.2012

http://www.nanoscienceworks.org/nanopedia/carbon-allotropes       

Identify the different allotropes of carbon that are now known. education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele006.html Include a diagram showing their crystalline or molecular structure (ie the arrangement of their atoms) Explain how this structure determines the properties of the allotrope. Describe their current and/or possible future uses. Relate these uses to physical properties of the allotrope.

Presentation of this information is up to you (see syllabus reference) but it should be easy to follow.

Emma Boyd

Chemistry

23.08.2012