Perovskite Unit Cell Molecular Model
SKU: 68790W
The Indigo® perovskite unit cell molecular model shows Oh point group symmetry, ABX3 cubic crystal structure, and 12-coordinate A-site cation geometry. It's ideal for solid state chemistry, crystallography, materials science, and energy research courses.
The Indigo® perovskite unit cell model reflects the full cubic symmetry of an ideal perovskite. It also helps understand the structure's general formula ABX3, its belonging to the Oh point group and the crystallographic space group Pm3m. In calcium titanate (CaTiO3), the prototype perovskite mineral, the A-site Ca2+ cations occupy the corners of the unit cell in a 12-coordinate cuboctahedral geometry, the B-site Ti4+ cation sits at the body center octahedrally coordinated by six oxygen anions, and the X-site O2- anions occupy the face centers of the cube.
The perovskite structure isa technologically consequential crystal used in a diverse family of materials spanning ferroelectrics, superconductors, solar cells, and catalysts. Barium titanate (BaTiO3) is the archetypal ferroelectric perovskite, whose spontaneous polarization below its Curie temperature arises from a slight distortion of the ideal cubic Oh symmetry that displaces the B-site cation off-center within its oxygen octahedron. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT, Pb(Zr,Ti)O3) is the most widely used piezoelectric material in sensors, actuators, and ultrasound transducers. High-temperature superconductors such as YBa2Cu3O7 adopt layered perovskite-related structures, and hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites such as methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) have emerged as leading candidates for next-generation photovoltaic solar cells, achieving power conversion efficiencies exceeding 25% in laboratory settings.
In X-ray diffraction, the ideal cubic perovskite belongs to space group Pm3m and produces a characteristic diffraction pattern whose systematic absences and peak positions directly encode the ABX3 structural arrangement. Distortions from ideal cubic symmetry such as octahedral tilting, cation displacement, or Jahn-Teller distortion at the B-site, lower the symmetry to tetragonal, orthorhombic, or rhombohedral space groups. Detecting these distortions by XRD or neutron diffraction is an active area of materials research. For students and instructors building a progressive unit cell model series, the perovskite model pairs naturally with the NaCl rock salt and CaF2 fluorite models to illustrate how the cubic crystal system accommodates fundamentally different coordination geometries and stoichiometries. The 6:6 coordination of rock salt through the 8:4 coordination of fluorite to the complex 12:6:6 coordination of perovskite.
Indigo Instruments has held inventory of genuine Cochranes of Oxford (Orbit) parts for 30+ years (See Skeletal (Orbit/Minit)) that are compatible with every molecular model we have sold since day 1. This level of quality may appear expensive but no parts support from other vendors costs even more.
