Question

Why do interstial compounds have higher melting points?

Answer 1

In interstitial compounds , atoms such as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen etc are present inside the crystal lattices of metals. the melting points of these compounds are higher than that of pure metals due to bonding between the metal and the non-metals, which is stronger than metal-metal bonding. Due to this stronger bonding, they require higher temperature for melting and hence have higher melting point.