CdCl2
Cadmium chloride · Dichlorocadmium
Cadmium chloride is a white crystalline inorganic compound that is highly soluble in water. It serves as a vital precursor in the synthesis of various cadmium-based materials and is frequently utilized in chemical manufacturing and laboratory research.
CdCl
Overview
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Cadmium chloride, aggregated across 4 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.
2.90–3.52 eV
Range across DFT structures
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.
0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources
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.
On hull (stable)
3 DFT sources
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
57
4 databases, 15 space groups
Crystallography
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for CdCl2, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-3m (No. 166) | trigonal | 3.52 | 0.0000 | -12.078 | 3.87 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 3.52 | 0.0025 | -12.075 | 3.82 |
| P-4m2 (No. 115) | tetragonal | 3.14 | 0.0956 | -11.982 | 3.43 |
| C2 (No. 5) | monoclinic | 2.90 | 0.0965 | -11.981 | 3.48 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 6.89 |
| C2 (No. 5) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 4.64 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 7.26 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 3.70 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 4.92 |
| C2/m (No. 12) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 5.03 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 4.71 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 4.61 |
Uses
Applications
Where Cadmium chloride is used.
ElectroplatingPigment productionPhotographyChemical synthesisDye manufacturing
Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Cadmium chloride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is CdCl2?
Cadmium chloride is a white crystalline inorganic compound that is highly soluble in water. It serves as a vital precursor in the synthesis of various cadmium-based materials and is frequently utilized in chemical manufacturing and laboratory research.
More questions
What is CdCl2 used for?
Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) is used in electroplating, pigment production, photography, chemical synthesis, and dye manufacturing.
What is the band gap of CdCl2?
Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) has a DFT-computed band gap of 2.90–3.52 eV across 57 reported structures.
Is CdCl2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 3.52 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is CdCl2 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of CdCl2?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) is trigonal symmetry, space group R-3m (No. 166).
What is the density of CdCl2?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) is 3.87 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of CdCl2 are known?
57 structures of CdCl2 are reported across 4 databases, spanning 15 distinct space groups.
What elements does CdCl2 contain?
Cadmium chloride (CdCl2) contains Cd and Cl (2 elements).
Where does the data for CdCl2 come from?
CdCl2 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, omat24, jarvis.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- omat24 — Data from OMat24 (Meta FAIR). Cite: Barroso-Luque et al., arXiv 2410.12771 (2024).
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
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