CH2O
Formaldehyde · Methanal, Methyl aldehyde
Formaldehyde is a reactive organic compound used as a vital precursor in the manufacture of resins, plastics, and various chemical products.
About Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a simple yet highly reactive organic molecule that serves as a fundamental building block in chemical synthesis. As a wide-gap insulating material, it plays a critical role in the production of resins, plastics, and various industrial chemical intermediates.
Due to its position above the thermodynamic hull, the compound is inherently unstable in its pure form and typically exists as a gas or in aqueous solution. Its high reactivity makes it an essential precursor for complex molecular architectures across diverse chemical sectors.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Formaldehyde, aggregated across 3 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 CH2O. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Only 1 independent DFT source (materials_project) reports a hull energy for CH2O, so cross-source agreement can't be assessed yet.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for CH2O, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P212121 (No. 19) | orthorhombic | 0.02 | 0.3154 | -5.887 | 1.47 |
| R3c (No. 161) | trigonal | 6.24 | 0.3226 | -5.880 | 1.36 |
| Pbcn (No. 60) | orthorhombic | 6.42 | 0.3254 | -5.877 | 1.58 |
| C2221 (No. 20) | orthorhombic | 5.95 | 0.3379 | -5.864 | 1.44 |
| I41/a (No. 88) | tetragonal | 6.03 | 0.3460 | -5.856 | 1.32 |
| P2/c (No. 13) | monoclinic | 2.44 | 0.4592 | -5.743 | 1.14 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 1.68 |
| P21 (No. 4) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 1.52 |
| P21 (No. 4) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 1.54 |
| P21 (No. 4) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 1.60 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 1.59 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 1.65 |
Applications
Where Formaldehyde is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Formaldehyde, answered from cross-validated data.
What is CH2O?
Formaldehyde is a reactive organic compound used as a vital precursor in the manufacture of resins, plastics, and various chemical products.
What is CH2O used for?
What is the band gap of CH2O?
Is CH2O a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is CH2O thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of CH2O?
What is the density of CH2O?
How many polymorphs of CH2O are known?
What elements does CH2O contain?
Where does the data for CH2O come from?
How It Compares
As a foundational organic molecule, this compound functions as the primary precursor for a vast array of synthetic polymers and chemical derivatives, serving as the essential starting point for the broader class of aldehyde-based industrial materials.
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)
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database (crystallography.net/cod/). Cite: Grazulis et al., J. Appl. Cryst. 42, 726 (2009). (CC0-1.0)
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