CSe2

Carbon diselenide · CSe2

Carbon diselenide is a semiconducting, metastable carbon-selenium compound frequently utilized as a versatile building block in chemical synthesis.

CSe
Crystal structure of CSe2 (orthorhombic, Cmce (No. 64))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Carbon diselenide

Carbon diselenide is a semiconducting material characterized by its notable structural diversity, with dozens of reported configurations across various databases. Its chemical nature makes it a subject of interest for researchers investigating chalcogen-based compounds and their electronic behaviors. Due to its position relative to the thermodynamic ground state, this compound is considered metastable. This instability is a key factor in its chemical reactivity and the specific conditions required for its synthesis and handling in laboratory environments.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Carbon diselenide, aggregated across 5 databases.

Band Gap

1.80–2.48 eV
Range across DFT structures · ground state: wide gap

Energy Above Hull

0.358 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Unstable
3 DFT sources

Structures

75
5 databases, 13 space groups
Validation

Cross-Source DFT Agreement

How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of CSe2. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.

Agreement Score

0.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: low

Hull Spread

0.338 eV
EAH spread across sources

Sources Compared

3
jarvis, materials_project, oqmd

Space Group Consensus

All match
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for CSe2, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Cmce (No. 64)orthorhombic2.350.3577-12.4992.79
——2.480.66370.664—
Cmce (No. 64)orthorhombic1.800.69610.695—
C2/m (No. 12)monoclinic1.810.72200.721—
——0.001.14351.143—
——0.001.34341.343—
——0.001.35091.351—
——0.001.46881.469—
——0.001.57211.572—
——0.001.59651.597—
——0.002.61992.620—
P-1 (No. 2)triclinic———4.62
Uses

Applications

Where Carbon diselenide is used.

Organic synthesisPrecursor for organic conductorsMaterials science research
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Carbon diselenide, answered from cross-validated data.

What is CSe2?

Carbon diselenide is a semiconducting, metastable carbon-selenium compound frequently utilized as a versatile building block in chemical synthesis.

More questions
What is CSe2 used for?
Carbon diselenide (CSe2) is used in organic synthesis, precursor for organic conductors, and materials science research.
What is the band gap of CSe2?
Carbon diselenide (CSe2) has a DFT-computed band gap of 1.80–2.48 eV across 75 reported structures. Standard DFT underestimates band gaps, so the measured gap is typically larger.
Is CSe2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
DFT predicts a band gap of up to 2.48 eV (a semiconductor). Measured gaps are typically larger.
Is CSe2 thermodynamically stable?
Carbon diselenide (CSe2) has a lowest energy above hull of 0.358 eV/atom (unstable).
What is the crystal structure of CSe2?
The reference structure of Carbon diselenide (CSe2) is orthorhombic symmetry, space group Cmce (No. 64).
What is the density of CSe2?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Carbon diselenide (CSe2) is 2.79 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of CSe2 are known?
75 structures of CSe2 are reported across 5 databases, spanning 13 distinct space groups.
What elements does CSe2 contain?
Carbon diselenide (CSe2) contains C and Se (2 elements).
Where does the data for CSe2 come from?
CSe2 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, oqmd, jarvis, mpaloe, omat24.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a unique chalcogenide, carbon diselenide represents a specialized case within the broader landscape of carbon-based semiconductors, often serving as a precursor or reagent in organic synthesis where its high reactivity is leveraged for building complex molecular architectures.

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)
  • 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)
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
  • mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
  • omat24 — Data from Meta Open Materials 2024 (OMat24), Meta FAIR. Cite: Barroso-Luque et al., arXiv:2410.12771 (2024). (CC-BY-4.0)

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