Allotropes Carbon

• Diamond

  • a giant covalent structure made up of carbon atoms that each form four covalent bonds - makes them really hards
  • take a lot of energy to break and give diamond a very high melting point
  • doesn’t conduct electricity, it has no free electrons
• Graphite contain sheets of hexagons

  • forms three covalent bonds creating sheets of carbon atom arranged in hexagons
  • aren’t any covalent bonds between the layers - held together weakly, they’re free to move
  • this makes graphite soft and slippery so it’s ideal as a lubricating material
  • high melting point
  • conducts electricity and thermal energy
• Graphene is one layer of Graphite

  • sheet of carbon atoms joined together in hexagons
  • one atom thick making it a two-dimensional compounds
  • makes it very strong - incredibly light
  • added to composite materials to improve their strength without adding much weight
  • contains delocalised electrons - can conduct electricity through the whole structure
  • can be used in electronics
• Fullerenes form spheres and tubes

  • molecules of carbon shaped like closed tube or hollow balls
  • made up of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons but also contain pentagons or heptagons
  • fullerenes can cage other molecules - deliver a drug
  • have a huge surface area so they could help make great industrial catalyst
  • make great lubricants
• Fullerenes - nanotubes

  • Form nanotubes - tiny carbon cylinders
  • ratio between the length and the diameter of nanotubes is very high
  • can conduct both electricity and thermal energy
  • high tensile strength
  • nanotechnology - nanotubes can be used in electronics or to strengthen materials without adding much weight