Structure
The structure (or phase) adopted by silver iodide depends on temperature of the solid:
- Up to 420 K (147 °C), AgI is more stable in the β-phase, which has a wurtzite structure. It is known as the mineral iodargyrite. In this motif, the silver and iodide centers are tetrahedrally coordinated.
- Above 420 K (147 °C), the α-phase becomes more stable. This motif is body-centered cubic structure with has the silver centers distributed randomly between 2-, 3-, and 4-coordinate sites. Above 420 K, Ag+ ions can move rapidly through the solid, making it a fast ion conductor. The transition between the β and α forms represents the melting of the silver (cation) sublattice. The entropy of fusion (melting) for α-AgI is approximately half that for sodium chloride (a typical ionic solid). This can be rationalized by noting that the AgI crystalline lattice has essentially already partly melted in the transition between α and β forms.
- A metastable γ-phase also exists below 420 K, which has a zinc blende structure.
Read more about this topic: Silver Iodide
Famous quotes containing the word structure:
“Why does philosophy use concepts and why does faith use symbols if both try to express the same ultimate? The answer, of course, is that the relation to the ultimate is not the same in each case. The philosophical relation is in principle a detached description of the basic structure in which the ultimate manifests itself. The relation of faith is in principle an involved expression of concern about the meaning of the ultimate for the faithful.”
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965)
“Communism is a proposition to structure the world more reasonably, a proposition for changing the world. As such, we have to analyze it and, if we deem it reasonable, act upon it.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“A special feature of the structure of our book is the monstrous but perfectly organic part that eavesdropping plays in it.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)