A comparative study of crystallographic van der Waals radii

Abstract Important data sets of crystallographic van der Waals radii covering major portions of the Periodic Table are reviewed, including those originally published in Pauling’s pioneering work in the late 1930s, together with other more recent data sets. The van der Waals radii for rare gases are determined next from short contact distances in crystallographic data, as an illustration of the value of crystal structure databases for the direct determination of van der Waals radii for non-metallic elements. Then, van der Waals radii for the other non-metallic and metallic elements, as presented in the literature and having been determined using various approaches, are compared systematically. Finally, certain outstanding problems related to the derivation and application of van der Waals radii are discussed, and further investigations of crystallographic van der Waals radii are suggested.