Crystal structure theory

H. D. Megaw. Acta Cryst. 7, 187-94 (1954). Ferroelectricity and crystal structure theory, KH2PO4, ND4D2PO4. 

In the first, geometrical part, the crystal system, the crystal clasSf the translation group and the space group of the crystal under investigation are determined by systematic application of crystal structure theory in conjunction with tables. In addition the volume of the elementary cell, i.e. the smallest unit from which the whole crystal can be built up merely by parallel displacement, is established by calculation of its axes and angles. 

Most materials scientists at an early stage in their university courses learn some elementary aspects of what is still miscalled strength of materials . This field incorporates elementary treatments of problems such as the elastic response of beams to continuous or localised loading, the distribution of torque across a shaft under torsion, or the elastic stresses in the components of a simple girder. Materials come into it only insofar as the specific elastic properties of a particular metal or timber determine the numerical values for some of the symbols in the algebraic treatment. This kind of simple theory is an example of continuum mechanics, and its derivation does not require any knowledge of the crystal structure or crystal properties of simple materials or of the microstructure of more complex materials. The specific aim is to design simple structures that will not exceed their elastic limit under load. 

Crystallography is a very broad science, stretching from crystal-structure determination to crystal physics (especially the systematic study and mathematical analysis of anisotropy), crystal chemistry and the geometrical study of phase transitions in the solid state, and stretching to the prediction of crystal structures from first principles this last is very active nowadays and is entirely dependent on recent advances in the electron theory of solids. There is also a flourishing field of applied crystallography, encompassing such skills as the determination of preferred orientations, alias textures, in polycrystalline assemblies. It would be fair to say that... 

Colloidal crystals . At the end of Section 2.1.4, there is a brief account of regular, crystal-like structures formed spontaneously by two differently sized populations of hard (polymeric) spheres, typically near 0.5 nm in diameter, depositing out of a colloidal solution. Binary superlattices of composition AB2 and ABn are found. Experiment has allowed phase diagrams to be constructed, showing the crystal structures formed for a fixed radius ratio of the two populations but for variable volume fractions in solution of the two populations, and a computer simulation (Eldridge et al. 1995) has been used to examine how nearly theory and experiment match up. The agreement is not bad, but there are some unexpected differences from which lessons were learned. 

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND PHASE STABILITY IN Fei Co FROM AB INITIO THEORY... 

There are several theories about the chemistry of vanadium poisoning. The most prominent involves conversion of VjOj to vanadic acid (H-iVO ) under regenerator conditions. Vanadic acid, through hydrolysis, extracts the tetrahedral alumina in the zeolite crystal structure, causing it to collapse. 

To explain the observed magnitude of E and other kinetic features of reaction, a homogeneous bimolecular interaction between neighbouring CIO4 ions in the crystal structure was postulated and application of the activated complex theory to this model gave good agreement with the experimental observations. 

As the density of a gas increases, free rotation of the molecules is gradually transformed into rotational diffusion of the molecular orientation. After unfreezing , rotational motion in molecular crystals also transforms into rotational diffusion. Although a phenomenological description of rotational diffusion with the Debye theory [1] is universal, the gas-like and solid-like mechanisms are different in essence. In a dense gas the change of molecular orientation results from a sequence of short free rotations interrupted by collisions [2], In contrast, reorientation in solids results from jumps between various directions defined by a crystal structure, and in these orientational sites libration occurs during intervals between jumps. We consider these mechanisms to be competing models of molecular rotation in liquids. The only way to discriminate between them is to compare the theory with experiment, which is mainly spectroscopic. 

The crystal structures of hematite and corundum have been determined through the use of Taue and spectral photographs, interpreted with the aid of the theory of space groups. The unit of structure is a rhombohedron with a = 55° 17 and a = 5.420 = = 0.010 A. for hematite, and with a = 55° 17 and a = 5.120 = = 0.010 A. for corundum. The space group underlying the atomic arrangement is D. ... 

Coordination complexes Thermochemistry of-structure Chemists Crystal field theory Surface and specialty characterization... 

In this section we will discuss perturbation methods suitable for high-energy electron diffraction. For simplicity, in this section we will be concerned with only periodic structures and a transmission diffraction geometry. In the context of electron diffraction theory, the perturbation method has been extensively used and developed. Applications have been made to take into account the effects of weak beams [44, 45] inelastic scattering [46] higher-order Laue zone diffraction [47] crystal structure determination [48] and crystal structure factors refinement [38, 49]. A formal mathematical expression for the first order partial derivatives of the scattering matrix has been derived by Speer et al. [50], and a formal second order perturbation theory has been developed by Peng [22,34],... 

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