Diamond insulator why

Diamond is very strong but brittle. It has no malleability; i. In diamond, each carbon atom is covalently bonded with four other carbon atoms. So, the four outermost electrons of a carbon atom are engaged or trapped in the covalent bonds, having no free electrons making it a bad conductor of electricity. Diamond is a semiconductor and exhibits properties that are far superior to the reigning champion silicon.

It has fantastic electronic properties, allowing charges to move around much faster than silicon. Graphite is an interesting material, an allotrope of carbon as is diamond. It displays properties of both metals, and nonmetals. However, like a metal, graphite is a very good conductor of electricity due to the mobility of the electrons in its outer valence shells. In diamond, each carbon atom forms 4 covalent bonds in a tetrahedral structure.

The sheets of carbon become bonded by weaker intermolecular forces. It is because of these weak intermolecular forces that the layersof graphite can slide over eachother, making the overall substance a lot weaker than diamond. The bigger black lines only try to show us that the structure is drawn in 3D. We see in the image 3 different layers that are aligned on top of each other.

The carbon atoms of graphite form 4 bonds with 3 nearby carbon atoms. Therefore one of the bonds must be a double bond. What do these double bonds have to do with the conductivity of the material?

The double bonds in the rings of graphite aren't set at a certain location on the layer. They can "move" across the molecule Graphite has resonance structures, check out this page to learn more about resonance structures.

Double bonds consist out of electrons, which in graphite can move through the layer. Now image that you put an energy source over the graphite. At one side you putt electrons in the molecule and at the other side, you subtract the electrons from graphite. These electrons can move through the layer to the other side of the layer and back into the energy source creating a closed energy cycle!

I tried to draw this process in the picture below to clarify. And as you may have guessed: This process cannot happen inside pure diamond! No electron pushing trough the molecule and no electrical conductivity.

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