Ag8S12Si4
Ag8S12Si4 is a semiconducting quaternary sulfide compound that is theoretically stable enough to be a candidate for laboratory synthesis.

About Ag8S12Si4
Ag8S12Si4 is a complex quaternary sulfide compound that exhibits semiconducting electronic properties. Its structural arrangement, involving silver, sulfur, and silicon, suggests a unique framework that is of significant interest for materials design and solid-state chemistry research.
As a near-hull stable material, this compound is considered a promising candidate for experimental synthesis. Its presence across multiple structural databases highlights its importance as a subject of ongoing investigation in the pursuit of novel functional inorganic materials.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Ag8S12Si4, 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 Ag8S12Si4, 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 | 1.33 | 0.0061 | -13.052 | 4.23 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | — | 3.35 |
Applications
Where Ag8S12Si4 is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Ag8S12Si4, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Ag8S12Si4?
Ag8S12Si4 is a semiconducting quaternary sulfide compound that is theoretically stable enough to be a candidate for laboratory synthesis.
What is Ag8S12Si4 used for?
What is the band gap of Ag8S12Si4?
Is Ag8S12Si4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Ag8S12Si4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Ag8S12Si4?
What is the density of Ag8S12Si4?
How many polymorphs of Ag8S12Si4 are known?
What elements does Ag8S12Si4 contain?
Where does the data for Ag8S12Si4 come from?
How It Compares
As a unique quaternary sulfide with no direct structural siblings in this specific dataset, Ag8S12Si4 represents an isolated point of interest in the broader landscape of silver-based chalcogenides, serving as a distinct example of how these elements can organize into stable, semiconducting architectures.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- aflow — Data from AFLOW. Cite: Curtarolo et al., Comp. Mater. Sci. 58, 218 (2012).
- omat24 — Data from OMat24 (Meta FAIR). Cite: Barroso-Luque et al., arXiv 2410.12771 (2024).
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