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Ionic-Covalent Bonding in Crystals

Abstract

IN discussions in the literature regarding bonding in inorganic semiconducting (or insulating) crystals there seems to be some confusion between bond ionicity on one hand and charge separation effects due to electronegativity differences on the other. This appears to have arisen from the common assumption that the ionic component of bonding in solids is determined solely by the electronegativity difference (δx) between the constituent atoms (that is, that a compound with, say, δx = 1.0 must be more ionic than one with δx = 0.5). Without some qualification, this assumption can be very misleading.

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GOODMAN, C. Ionic-Covalent Bonding in Crystals. Nature 187, 590–591 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/187590a0

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