AuHgK2

AuHgK2 is a semiconducting ternary intermetallic compound composed of gold, mercury, and potassium that is theoretically stable enough to be synthesized.

AuHgK
Crystal structure of AuHgK2 (cubic, Fm-3m (No. 225))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About AuHgK2

AuHgK2 is a ternary intermetallic compound composed of gold, mercury, and potassium. As a semiconducting material, it occupies a unique electronic niche that distinguishes it from typical metallic alloys, often exhibiting complex bonding behaviors characteristic of its constituent heavy elements.

This compound is considered near-hull, indicating that it possesses thermodynamic stability favorable enough to be synthesizable in laboratory settings. With multiple reported structures across various databases, it remains a subject of interest for researchers investigating the interplay between noble metals and alkali components in solid-state chemistry.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for AuHgK2, aggregated across 3 databases.

Band Gap

0.17 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.023 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Near hull (likely stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

4
3 databases, 3 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for AuHgK2, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Fm-3m (No. 225)cubic0.000.0230-28.2615.65
Immm (No. 71)orthorhombic0.170.5325-27.7520.54
4.88
C2/m (No. 12)
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about AuHgK2, answered from cross-validated data.

What is AuHgK2?

AuHgK2 is a semiconducting ternary intermetallic compound composed of gold, mercury, and potassium that is theoretically stable enough to be synthesized.

More questions
What is the band gap of AuHgK2?
AuHgK2 has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.17 eV across 4 reported structures.
Is AuHgK2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a band gap up to 0.17 eV it is a semiconductor.
Is AuHgK2 thermodynamically stable?
AuHgK2 has a lowest energy above hull of 0.023 eV/atom (near hull (likely stable)).
What is the crystal structure of AuHgK2?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of AuHgK2 is cubic symmetry, space group Fm-3m (No. 225).
What is the density of AuHgK2?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of AuHgK2 is 5.65 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of AuHgK2 are known?
4 structures of AuHgK2 are reported across 3 databases, spanning 3 distinct space groups.
What elements does AuHgK2 contain?
AuHgK2 contains Au, Hg, and K (3 elements).
Where does the data for AuHgK2 come from?
AuHgK2 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, omat24, nomad.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a specialized ternary phase, AuHgK2 serves as a distinct example of how gold and mercury can be stabilized within an alkali-rich framework. Unlike simpler binary intermetallics, this compound demonstrates the structural complexity required to maintain semiconducting behavior in a multicomponent system.

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).
  • nomad — Data from NOMAD. Cite: Draxl & Scheffler, J. Phys. Mater. 2, 036001 (2019).

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