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.
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.
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?
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
- latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform
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