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Unit Cells of Ionic Compounds

Unit Cells of Ionic Compounds

Many ionic compounds crystallize with cubic unit cells, and we will use these compounds to describe the general features of ionic structures.

When an ionic compound is composed of cations and anions of similar size in a 1:1 ratio, it typically forms a simple cubic structure. Cesium chloride, CsCl, (illustrated in the figure below) is an example of this, with Cs+ and Cl− having radii of 174 pm and 181 pm, respectively.

We can think of this as chloride ions forming a simple cubic unit cell, with a cesium ion in the center; or as cesium ions forming a unit cell with a chloride ion in the center; or as simple cubic unit cells formed by Cs+ ions overlapping unit cells formed by Cl− ions. Cesium ions and chloride ions touch along the body diagonals of the unit cells. One cesium ion and one chloride ion are present per unit cell, giving the l:l stoichiometry required by the formula for cesium chloride. Note that there is no lattice point in the center of the cell, and CsCl is not a BCC structure because a cesium ion is not identical to a chloride ion.

Three images are shown. The first image shows a cube with black dots at each corner and a red dot in the center. This cube is stacked with seven others that are not colored to form a larger cube. The second image is composed of eight spheres that are grouped together to form a cube with one smaller sphere in the center. The name under this image reads “Body-centered simple cubic structure.” The third image shows five horizontal layers of purple spheres with layers of smaller green spheres in between.

Ionic compounds with similar-sized cations and anions, such as CsCl, usually form a simple cubic structure. They can be described by unit cells with either cations at the corners or anions at the corners.

We have said that the location of lattice points is arbitrary. This is illustrated by an alternate description of the CsCl structure in which the lattice points are located in the centers of the cesium ions. In this description, the cesium ions are located on the lattice points at the corners of the cell, and the chloride ion is located at the center of the cell. The two unit cells are different, but they describe identical structures.

When an ionic compound is composed of a 1:1 ratio of cations and anions that differ significantly in size, it typically crystallizes with an FCC unit cell, like that shown in the figure below. Sodium chloride, NaCl, is an example of this, with Na+ and Cl− having radii of 102 pm and 181 pm, respectively. We can think of this as chloride ions forming an FCC cell, with sodium ions located in the octahedral holes in the middle of the cell edges and in the center of the cell. The sodium and chloride ions touch each other along the cell edges. The unit cell contains four sodium ions and four chloride ions, giving the 1:1 stoichiometry required by the formula, NaCl.

Three images are shown. The first image shows a cube with black dots at each corner and a red dot in the center. This cube is stacked with seven others that are not colored to form a larger cube. The second image is composed of eight spheres that are grouped together to form a cube with one much larger sphere in the center. The name under this image reads “Body-centered simple cubic structure.” The third image shows seven horizontal layers of alternating purple and green spheres that are slightly offset with one another and form a large cube.

Ionic compounds with anions that are much larger than cations, such as NaCl, usually form an FCC structure. They can be described by FCC unit cells with cations in the octahedral holes.

The cubic form of zinc sulfide, zinc blende, also crystallizes in an FCC unit cell, as illustrated in the figure below. This structure contains sulfide ions on the lattice points of an FCC lattice. (The arrangement of sulfide ions is identical to the arrangement of chloride ions in sodium chloride.)

The radius of a zinc ion is only about 40% of the radius of a sulfide ion, so these small Zn2+ ions are located in alternating tetrahedral holes, that is, in one half of the tetrahedral holes. There are four zinc ions and four sulfide ions in the unit cell, giving the empirical formula ZnS.

Two images are shown. The first image shows a cube with black dots at each corner and a red dot in the center of each face of the cube. This cube is stacked with seven others that are not colored to form a larger cube. The second image is composed of eight spheres that form the corners of a cube with six other spheres located in the face of the cube. The spheres are connected to one another by lines. The name under this image reads “Z n S, face-centered unit cell.”

ZnS, zinc sulfide (or zinc blende) forms an FCC unit cell with sulfide ions at the lattice points and much smaller zinc ions occupying half of the tetrahedral holes in the structure.

A calcium fluoride unit cell, like that shown in the figure below, is also an FCC unit cell, but in this case, the cations are located on the lattice points; equivalent calcium ions are located on the lattice points of an FCC lattice. All of the tetrahedral sites in the FCC array of calcium ions are occupied by fluoride ions.

There are four calcium ions and eight fluoride ions in a unit cell, giving a calcium:fluorine ratio of 1:2, as required by the chemical formula, CaF2. Close examination of the figure below will reveal a simple cubic array of fluoride ions with calcium ions in one half of the cubic holes. The structure cannot be described in terms of a space lattice of points on the fluoride ions because the fluoride ions do not all have identical environments. The orientation of the four calcium ions about the fluoride ions differs.

Two images are shown. The first image shows a cube with black dots at each corner and a red dot in the center of each face of the cube. This cube is stacked with seven others that are not colored to form a larger cube. The second image is composed of eight small green spheres that form the corners of a cube with six other small green spheres located in the faces of the cube. Eight larger green spheres are spaced inside the cube and all of the spheres are connect to one another by lines. The name under this image reads “C a F, subscript 2, face-centered unit cell.”

Calcium fluoride, CaF2, forms an FCC unit cell with calcium ions (green) at the lattice points and fluoride ions (red) occupying all of the tetrahedral sites between them.

This lesson is part of:

Liquids and Solids

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