Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

6.11: Polyacetylene (alternating bond model)

  • Page ID
    52342
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    A more accurate model of polyacetylene includes the effects of alternating single and double carbon-carbon bonds on the polymer backbone. Since double bonds contain a slightly higher electron density than single bonds, they are slightly shorter. Thus, the single-double bond alternation establishes a static deformation with twice the period, \(a_{0}\), of the average bond model for polyacteylene. The periodic charge density established by the deformation is known as a charge density wave. The primitive lattice vector is a \(\bf{\tilde{a_{1}}} = 2a_{0}\bf{\tilde{x}}\).

    Screenshot 2021-05-25 at 16.37.35.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): A more accurate model for polyacetylene, including the alternating single and double bonds.

    6.11: Polyacetylene (alternating bond model) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

    • Was this article helpful?