Carbon Series: An Insight Into the Key Properties of Carbon
Carbon series has unique properties that make it an essential part of life on Earth. These properties include its ability to form strong bonded chains and its ability to form molecules.
A carbon atom can bond with as many as four other atoms due to its valence electron number of 4. This property is called catenation and it allows carbon to form long chains that are the backbone for a wide range of organic molecules, including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.
Physical Properties
Carbon is a light and non-metal atomic element, ranking 19th in the periodic table. It is a tetravalent chemical element, with one atom making four electrons available to form covalent bonds with other elements (see the figure below).
In nature, carbon series is polymorphic and exists in the forms of coal, oil, graphite, diamonds, and many other allotropes. These allotropes vary in their physical properties, including color, density, and melting and boiling points.
It is an excellent electrical conductor. This is because one of the outer electrons in each carbon atom delocalizes to form a p-cloud, which is very strong at room temperature.
Graphite also has a low melting and boiling point when compared to ionic compounds.
A very strong reducing agent, carbon is useful in the production of many metals and oxides. It combines with iron to form steel, a metal used for making knives and tools.
Other important uses of carbon include lubricants, pigments, and plastics.
Although carbon has many important applications, it also has many unique properties that make it a very versatile and interesting element. These properties include its catenation property, which allows it to form a vast array of different compounds.
Another notable property of carbon is its ability to sublime in a carbon arc. The resulting carbon monoxide is a highly flammable gas. However, it is odorless and nontoxic.
Chemical Properties
Carbon is one of the most important elements in nature. It is found in the Earth’s crust, in the minerals magnesium and calcium carbonates, and in all plant and animal tissue. Also, it is a key component in the formation of natural gas and petroleum.
It is a member of the Group 14 (IVa) of the periodic table and is the 19th most abundant element on the planet. It forms a wide range of complex compounds, including proteins and carbohydrates. Also, it is the primary component of natural gas and the second-most plentiful element in the human body, with an abundance of about 18.5% by mass after oxygen.
Elemental carbon exists in a number of different crystalline structures, each with its own unique physical properties. Two of the most well-defined are diamond and graphite.
The crystal structure of diamond is a three-dimensional array of carbon atoms that form a tetrahedron, or pyramid, with four faces.
A third crystalline form of carbon is fullerene, which is a variety of molecules that have a three-dimensional array of carbon atomic nuclei arranged like a sphere. It is a key component of the carbon cycle, which involves photosynthesis in plants, the consumption of these carbohydrates by animals, and the return of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Thermal Properties
Carbon fiber has unique thermal properties compared to common alternatives, which can make it an ideal material for certain applications. These properties include its ability to conduct heat and the coefficient of thermal expansion, or CTE. Understanding these properties can help engineers select the best materials for their projects.
In contrast, materials with poor thermal conductivity carry heat slowly and effectively. This can be beneficial for building materials and other applications that require slow and controlled heating and cooling.
The thermal conductivity of a material is typically measured in watts per kelvin per meter, and varies according to the temperature of the material. As the temperature increases, thermal conductivity decreases, as does heat capacity (watts required to change one degree of temperature).
For non-metals, conductivity is mostly due to lattice vibrations, whereas for metals it is mostly due to free electrons. This causes both properties to vary greatly with the temperature of the material.
The key to understanding the thermal properties of a material is knowing which of these properties is most important for an application. In many cases, the best option is to choose a material that has both high thermal conductivity and low CTE, as well as other properties that are more specific to the end application.
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Electrical Properties
Carbon has a wide range of electrical properties that make it an attractive material for a variety of applications. These include the ability to conduct electricity, carry current, resist heat, and have high strength. These characteristics make carbon an excellent candidate for the development of electric wires that could replace metal ones.
As discussed above, these materials have a very wide range of important and versatile applications in many fields such as catalysis, energy storage, gas sensors, solar cells, to name but a few. In particular, carbon nanotube-based materials are of great interest for the development of a next generation of conductive wires that could replace conventional metal ones.
The electrical properties of carbon-based composites are influenced by several factors such as the interfacial energy and defect density, grain boundaries and interfaces. These properties determine the overall mechanical and chemical properties of these materials and thus their applications in a wide variety of industrial and technological areas.
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