Au2O3

Gold(III) oxide · Auric oxide

Gold(III) oxide is a stable, semiconducting inorganic compound used primarily in chemical synthesis and as a precursor for gold-based materials.

AuO
Crystal structure of Au2O3 (orthorhombic, Fdd2 (No. 43))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Gold(III) oxide

Gold(III) oxide is a binary inorganic compound that stands out as a thermodynamically stable member of the gold-oxygen system. As a semiconducting material, it represents a unique intersection of noble metal chemistry and oxide physics, maintaining its structural integrity under standard conditions.

Its significance lies in its role as a precursor for gold-based catalysts and specialized materials. Due to the relative rarity of stable gold oxides, this compound is highly valued in research for its distinct electronic character and its utility in high-precision chemical applications.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Gold(III) oxide, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

0.74–0.87 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
3 DFT sources

Structures

31
4 databases, 7 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for Au2O3, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Fdd2 (No. 43)orthorhombic0.870.0000-4.73611.06
P1 (No. 1)triclinic0.740.0262-4.71010.41
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic11.24
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic11.05
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic13.56
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic11.64
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic11.34
P-6m2 (No. 187)Hexagonal12.23
P1 (No. 1)Triclinic11.55
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic11.48
Cm (No. 8)Monoclinic11.39
P2/m (No. 10)Monoclinic14.31
Uses

Applications

Where Gold(III) oxide is used.

Chemical synthesisGold platingCatalysisGlass coloring
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Gold(III) oxide, answered from cross-validated data.

What is Au2O3?

Gold(III) oxide is a stable, semiconducting inorganic compound used primarily in chemical synthesis and as a precursor for gold-based materials.

More questions
What is Au2O3 used for?
Gold(III) oxide (Au2O3) is used in chemical synthesis, gold plating, catalysis, and glass coloring.
What is the band gap of Au2O3?
Gold(III) oxide (Au2O3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.74–0.87 eV across 31 reported structures.
Is Au2O3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a band gap up to 0.87 eV it is a semiconductor.
Is Au2O3 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Gold(III) oxide (Au2O3) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of Au2O3?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Gold(III) oxide (Au2O3) is orthorhombic symmetry, space group Fdd2 (No. 43).
What is the density of Au2O3?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Gold(III) oxide (Au2O3) is 11.06 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of Au2O3 are known?
31 structures of Au2O3 are reported across 4 databases, spanning 7 distinct space groups.
What elements does Au2O3 contain?
Gold(III) oxide (Au2O3) contains Au and O (2 elements).
Where does the data for Au2O3 come from?
Au2O3 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, nomad, jarvis.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a primary oxide of gold, this compound serves as a fundamental reference point for gold-based inorganic chemistry. Unlike many other metal oxides that exhibit diverse structural families, gold(III) oxide is notable for being one of the few stable gold-oxygen phases, making it a critical subject for understanding noble metal oxidation states.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
  • mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
  • nomad — Data from NOMAD. Cite: Draxl & Scheffler, J. Phys. Mater. 2, 036001 (2019).
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).

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