Ag2HgS2
Ag2HgS2 is a metastable semiconducting compound composed of silver, mercury, and sulfur.

About Ag2HgS2
Ag2HgS2 is a complex ternary sulfide characterized by its semiconducting electronic nature. As a metastable phase, it represents a unique structural arrangement of silver, mercury, and sulfur atoms that requires specific synthesis conditions to stabilize.
This material is of significant interest in solid-state chemistry due to its structural diversity, with multiple reported configurations across various databases. Its role as a metastable semiconductor makes it a subject of ongoing investigation for understanding phase transitions and structural stability in chalcogenide systems.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Ag2HgS2, aggregated across 3 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Ag2HgS2, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 0.42 | 0.0405 | -3.104 | 7.44 |
| — | — | — | — | — | 7.96 |
| — | — | — | — | — | 7.46 |
| — | — | — | — | — | 6.25 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | — | 6.25 |
Applications
Where Ag2HgS2 is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Ag2HgS2, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Ag2HgS2?
Ag2HgS2 is a metastable semiconducting compound composed of silver, mercury, and sulfur.
What is Ag2HgS2 used for?
What is the band gap of Ag2HgS2?
Is Ag2HgS2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Ag2HgS2 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Ag2HgS2?
What is the density of Ag2HgS2?
How many polymorphs of Ag2HgS2 are known?
What elements does Ag2HgS2 contain?
Where does the data for Ag2HgS2 come from?
How It Compares
As a unique ternary sulfide, Ag2HgS2 occupies a specialized niche within the broader landscape of silver-mercury chalcogenides. Unlike more common binary sulfides, its metastable nature provides a distinct case study in how complex stoichiometry influences electronic behavior and structural polymorphism.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- omat24 — Data from OMat24 (Meta FAIR). Cite: Barroso-Luque et al., arXiv 2410.12771 (2024).
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
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