REACTIONS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SOLIDS

The last 20 years of the 20th century have seen a change in the perception of solid state chemistry, in particular the scientific significance of understanding the relationship between chemical structure and physical properties. As such, it now forms an important part of both mainstream chemistry and material science degrees. This book is designed as an introductory text with plenty of illustrative examples to reinforce the essentials of the topic. In the first few chapters, the fundamental principles of elementary crystal chemistry are introduced, together with the principles of both preparing and characterizing materials in the solid state. Some elementary thermodynamics are also included at this stage to introduce the idea of bond strength as a method of determining and predicting compound stability. General physical properties such as electronic and magnetic behaviours are discussed, together with specific topics relating to solid state materials such as non-stoichiometry. Furthermore, severl solid state materials are described in details, relating the fundamental properties and structural behaviour covered throughout the book to real systems and working materials.