Allotropes of Carbon

Diamond has a giant covalent structure, made up of carbon atoms that each form four covalent bonds.
- This makes diamond really hard
Those strong covalent bonds take a lot of energy to break and give diamonds a very high melting point
It doesn’t conduct electricity because it has no free electrons or ions

In graphite, each carbon atom only forms three covalent bonds creating sheets of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons
There aren’t any covalent bonds between the layers-they’re only held together weakly, so they’re free to move over
- This makes graphite soft and slippery, so it’s ideal as a lubricating material
Graphite’s got a high melting point-the covalent bonds in the layers need loads of energy to break
Only three out of each carbon’s four covalent electrons are used in bonds, so each carbon atom has one electron that’s delocalised(free) and can move
So graphite conducts electricity and thermal energy

Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms joined together in hexagons
The sheet is just one atom thick, making it two-dimensional compound
The network of covalent bonds makes it very strong
- It’s also incredibly light, so can be added to composite materials to improve their strength without adding much weight
Like graphite, it contains delocalised electrons so can conduct electricity through the whole structure
- This means it has the potential to be used in electrons

Fullerenes are molecules of carbon, shaped like closed tubes or hollow balls
They’re mainly made up of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons, but can also contain pentagons(rings of five carbon atoms) or heptagons(rings of seven carbon atoms).
Fullerenes can be used to ‘cage’ other molecules
- The fullerenes structure forms around another atom or molecule, which is then trapped inside
- This could be used to deliver a drug into the body
Fullerenes have a surface area, so they could make great industrial catalysts, individual catalyst molecules could be attached to the fullerenes
Fullerenes also make great lubricants
Buckminsterfullerene was the first fullerene to be discovered and it’s got the molecular formula C60 and forms a hollow sphere

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