al4c3 is a binary compound of aluminium and carbon. It is quite hard and is often used as an abrasive material.

It has a hexagonal crystal structure and decomposes into methane in water. It is stable up to 1400 degC and has a density of 2.36 g/cm3.

Chemical Formula: al4c3 (Al+C)2]]]], IUPAC nomenclature: methide, CAS no. 12656-43-8, d-form, molecular mass 3.12 g/cm3, density 4.32 g/cm3.

Crystal Structure: It has complex lattice structures. It has alternating layers of tetrahedral aluminum atoms coordinated to 4 carbon atoms with an octahedral binding environment for Al and a tripyramidal binding environment for Carbon.

X-ray powder diffraction analysis shows that al4c3 consists of two interconnected Bravais lattices; one consisting of six Al atoms at a distance of 217 pm and a distorted octahedron at a distance of 190-194 pm. The other is a distorted trigonal bipyramidal structure of four Al atoms at a distance of 225 pm and a fifth Al atom at 224 pm.

A small amount of al4c3 is found as a corrosion product of technical calcium carbide, in electrolytic manufacturing. It is also present in an aluminium-aluminium carbide composite material produced by mechanical alloying, by milling aluminum powder with graphite particles.

tags: Semiconductors semiconductor industry