Structure And Bonding In Crystalline Materials

One of the motivating questions in materials research today is : how can elements be combined to produce a sol id with specified properties ? One part of the answer to this question lies in the fundamental relationship between the composition, structure and bonding in crystalline materials. This book is intended to acquaint the reader with established principles of crystallography and bonding that are needed to understand this relationship. The book starts with an introduction to periodic trends and then describes the atomic structure of crystalline solids, the experimental interrogation of crystalline structure, the origin of the cohesive forces that stabilize crystalline structures, and how these cohesive forces vary with the elements in the solid. The book finishes by describing a number of models for predicting phase stability and structure. Containing a large number of worked examples, exercises and detailed descriptions of numerous crystal structures, this book is primarily intended as an advanced undergraduate or graduate level textbook for students of materials science who are preparing to conduct research. However, it will also be useful to scientists and engineers who work with solid materials.