AcF3

Actinium trifluoride · Actinium(III) fluoride

Actinium trifluoride is a stable, insulating salt formed from the reaction of actinium with fluorine.

AcF
Crystal structure of AcF3 (tetragonal, I4/mmm (No. 139))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Actinium trifluoride

Actinium trifluoride is a stable inorganic compound composed of actinium and fluorine. As a wide-gap insulator, it exhibits the characteristic electronic properties of a highly ionic actinide halide, maintaining thermodynamic stability within its structural framework.

This compound is primarily studied for its fundamental role in understanding the chemical behavior of actinium. Given the extensive number of reported structures, it serves as a key reference point for researchers investigating the coordination chemistry and solid-state characteristics of rare radioactive elements.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Actinium trifluoride, aggregated across 3 databases.

Band Gap

6.07–7.41 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

22
3 databases, 8 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for AcF3, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
I4/mmm (No. 139)tetragonal6.070.0000-23.9728.79
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic7.410.0047-23.9678.79
I4/mmm (No. 139)
P63/mmc (No. 194)Hexagonal7.91
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic6.96
Cmcm (No. 63)Orthorhombic8.70
P63/mmc (No. 194)Hexagonal8.66
Cmcm (No. 63)Orthorhombic8.81
C2/m (No. 12)Monoclinic7.38
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic8.81
Fm-3m (No. 225)
Cmcm (No. 63)Orthorhombic5.83
Uses

Applications

Where Actinium trifluoride is used.

Fundamental actinide researchRadiochemical studiesSolid-state structural analysis
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Actinium trifluoride, answered from cross-validated data.

What is AcF3?

Actinium trifluoride is a stable, insulating salt formed from the reaction of actinium with fluorine.

More questions
What is AcF3 used for?
Actinium trifluoride (AcF3) is used in fundamental actinide research, radiochemical studies, and solid-state structural analysis.
What is the band gap of AcF3?
Actinium trifluoride (AcF3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 6.07–7.41 eV across 22 reported structures.
Is AcF3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 7.41 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is AcF3 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Actinium trifluoride (AcF3) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of AcF3?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Actinium trifluoride (AcF3) is tetragonal symmetry, space group I4/mmm (No. 139).
What is the density of AcF3?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Actinium trifluoride (AcF3) is 8.79 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of AcF3 are known?
22 structures of AcF3 are reported across 3 databases, spanning 8 distinct space groups.
What elements does AcF3 contain?
Actinium trifluoride (AcF3) contains Ac and F (2 elements).
Where does the data for AcF3 come from?
AcF3 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, jarvis, mpaloe.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a member of the actinide fluoride family, this compound represents a foundational example of how heavy, radioactive elements interact with electronegative halogens to form stable, insulating lattice structures.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
  • mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.

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