The sphere-in-contact model of carbon materials

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• 作者：Constantinos D. Zeinalipour-Yazdi ; David P. Pullman…
• 关键词：Fullerene ; Graphene ; Graphite ; Carbon nanotube ; Molecular modeling
• 刊名：Journal of Molecular Modeling
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：January 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：22
• 期：1
• 全文大小：2,192 KB
• 刊物类别：Chemistry and Materials Science
• 刊物主题：Chemistry
  Computer Applications in Chemistry
  Biomedicine
  Molecular Medicine
  Health Informatics and Administration
  Life Sciences
  Computer Application in Life Sciences
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：0948-5023

文摘

A sphere-in-contact model is presented that is used to build physical models of carbon materials such as graphite, graphene, carbon nanotubes and fullerene. Unlike other molecular models, these models have correct scale and proportions because the carbon atoms are represented by their atomic radius, in contrast to the more commonly used space-fill models, where carbon atoms are represented by their van der Waals radii. Based on a survey taken among 65 undergraduate chemistry students and 28 PhD/postdoctoral students with a background in molecular modeling, we found misconceptions arising from incorrect visualization of the size and location of the electron density located in carbon materials. Based on analysis of the survey and on a conceptual basis we show that the sphere-in-contact model provides an improved molecular representation of the electron density of carbon materials compared to other molecular models commonly used in science textbooks (i.e., wire-frame, ball-and-stick, space-fill). We therefore suggest that its use in chemistry textbooks along with the ball-and-stick model would significantly enhance the visualization of molecular structures according to their electron density.