AgCl
Silver chloride · Chlorargyrite
Silver chloride is a stable, light-sensitive semiconducting compound widely used in photographic processes and electrochemical sensing.
About Silver chloride
Silver chloride is a thermodynamically stable inorganic compound that exists as a semiconducting material. It is widely recognized for its photosensitive properties and its role in various chemical and optical applications.
Due to its stability and unique electronic behavior, this compound serves as a critical component in historical and contemporary technologies. It remains a heavily studied material with extensive structural data available across scientific databases.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Silver chloride, aggregated across 5 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.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of AgCl. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for AgCl, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 1.52 | 0.0000 | -0.642 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.95 | 0.0000 | -3.074 | 5.58 |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.93 | 0.0000 | -0.472 | — |
| Pmmn (No. 59) | orthorhombic | 1.42 | 0.0004 | -3.074 | 5.59 |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.92 | 0.0005 | -0.471 | — |
| — | — | 1.39 | 0.0010 | -0.641 | — |
| — | — | 1.37 | 0.0011 | -0.641 | — |
| — | — | 1.37 | 0.0023 | -0.640 | — |
| P21/m (No. 11) | monoclinic | 0.87 | 0.0113 | -3.063 | 5.43 |
| — | — | 1.11 | 0.0244 | -0.618 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.47 | 0.0255 | -0.446 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 0.44 | 0.0285 | -3.046 | 5.83 |
Synthesis Routes
Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting AgCl.
Applications
Where Silver chloride is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Silver chloride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is AgCl?
Silver chloride is a stable, light-sensitive semiconducting compound widely used in photographic processes and electrochemical sensing.
What is AgCl used for?
What is the band gap of AgCl?
Is AgCl a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is AgCl thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of AgCl?
What is the density of AgCl?
How many polymorphs of AgCl are known?
How is AgCl synthesized?
What elements does AgCl contain?
Where does the data for AgCl come from?
How It Compares
As a prominent halide, silver chloride occupies a foundational role in materials science, serving as a benchmark for understanding ionic conductivity and light-induced chemical changes in solid-state systems.
Data sources & attribution
- oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
Analyze AgCl in the Lattice Graph platform
Polymorph comparison, confidence scoring, supply-chain risk, and patent monitoring — across 85 source databases.
Explore the Platform →