 Metallic bonding

Cohesion in a metal involving delocalized valence electrons and positive ion cores. A dispersion-only sum between neutral molecular units omits this collective electronic contribution.

Metallic bonding is a type of chemical bonding that occurs between metal atoms. In this bond, electrons are not shared or transferred between individual atoms as seen in covalent or ionic bonds. Instead, metallic bonding involves a "sea of electrons" that are free to move around in a lattice of positive metal ions.