CF
CF is a metastable, wide-band-gap insulating material composed of carbon and fluorine.
About CF
CF is an insulating material composed of carbon and fluorine. Its electronic character is defined by a wide band gap, placing it firmly within the category of electrical insulators. Due to its unique atomic arrangement, it remains a subject of interest in fundamental materials research.
While it exists in numerous reported structural configurations across various databases, it is characterized as being above the thermodynamic hull. This suggests that the compound is inherently metastable, requiring specific synthesis conditions to stabilize its structure compared to more common carbon-fluorine phases.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for CF, 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 CF. 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 CF, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P63/m (No. 176) | hexagonal | 4.47 | 0.3083 | -6.627 | 2.09 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 3.18 | 0.3889 | -6.546 | 1.95 |
| P-6m2 (No. 187) | hexagonal | 0.00 | 2.9506 | 1.816 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 3.3337 | 2.044 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 3.3557 | 2.066 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 3.5385 | 2.249 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 3.6036 | 2.314 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 3.6187 | 2.329 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 3.6381 | 2.348 | — |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | — | — | — | 2.92 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | — | — | — | 4.10 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | — | — | — | 2.90 |
Applications
Where CF is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about CF, answered from cross-validated data.
What is CF?
CF is a metastable, wide-band-gap insulating material composed of carbon and fluorine.
What is CF used for?
What is the band gap of CF?
Is CF a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is CF thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of CF?
What is the density of CF?
How many polymorphs of CF are known?
What elements does CF contain?
Where does the data for CF come from?
How It Compares
As a metastable phase within the broader landscape of carbon-fluoride materials, CF represents a complex structural challenge. Unlike more thermodynamically stable fluorinated carbon derivatives, this compound exists in a high-energy state that highlights the diverse bonding possibilities between carbon and fluorine atoms.
Data sources & attribution
- 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)
- 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)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
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