AlF3

Aluminum fluoride · Aluminium fluoride

Aluminum fluoride is an inorganic compound typically produced by the reaction of alumina with hydrogen fluoride. It is primarily utilized as a critical additive in the industrial production of aluminum metal to improve efficiency and lower the operating temperature of the electrolytic process.

AlF
Crystal structure of AlF3 (trigonal, R-3c (No. 167))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Aluminum fluoride, aggregated across 3 databases.

Band Gap

5.49–7.60 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

162
3 databases, 32 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for AlF3, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
R-3c (No. 167)trigonal7.600.0000-7.8933.26
P321 (No. 150)trigonal7.430.0029-7.8902.90
C2/c (No. 15)monoclinic7.490.0093-7.8843.03
Pm-3m (No. 221)cubic7.420.0094-7.8843.02
Cmcm (No. 63)orthorhombic7.520.0106-7.8832.88
P4/nmm (No. 129)tetragonal7.400.0138-7.8802.88
P4/mbm (No. 127)tetragonal7.420.0152-7.8782.95
P2/m (No. 10)monoclinic7.450.0362-7.8572.73
P-1 (No. 2)triclinic7.490.0415-7.8522.77
Cmmm (No. 65)orthorhombic7.450.0542-7.8392.82
P1 (No. 1)triclinic5.490.1726-7.7212.87
P1 (No. 1)triclinic5.630.1831-7.7102.85
Uses

Applications

Where Aluminum fluoride is used.

Aluminum smeltingFlux for non-ferrous metalsCeramic glazesOptical coatings
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Aluminum fluoride, answered from cross-validated data.

What is AlF3?

Aluminum fluoride is an inorganic compound typically produced by the reaction of alumina with hydrogen fluoride. It is primarily utilized as a critical additive in the industrial production of aluminum metal to improve efficiency and lower the operating temperature of the electrolytic process.

More questions
What is AlF3 used for?
Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) is used in aluminum smelting, flux for non-ferrous metals, ceramic glazes, and optical coatings.
What is the band gap of AlF3?
Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 5.49–7.60 eV across 162 reported structures.
Is AlF3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 7.60 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is AlF3 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of AlF3?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) is trigonal symmetry, space group R-3c (No. 167).
What is the density of AlF3?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) is 3.26 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of AlF3 are known?
162 structures of AlF3 are reported across 3 databases, spanning 32 distinct space groups.
What elements does AlF3 contain?
Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) contains Al and F (2 elements).
Where does the data for AlF3 come from?
AlF3 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe.
Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
  • mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.

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