CrF3

Chromium(III) fluoride · Chromic fluoride

Chromium(III) fluoride is a stable, insulating inorganic salt used primarily as a chemical reagent and in industrial surface finishing.

CrF
Crystal structure of CrF3 (trigonal, R-3c (No. 167))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Chromium(III) fluoride

Chromium(III) fluoride is a robust inorganic compound characterized by its insulating electronic nature. As a thermodynamically stable material, it occupies a favorable position on the convex hull, indicating significant structural reliability and chemical persistence under standard conditions.

This compound is highly regarded for its utility in specialized chemical manufacturing processes. Its stability and electronic properties make it a valuable component in industrial applications where high-performance fluoride-based materials are required to maintain structural integrity.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Chromium(III) fluoride, aggregated across 5 databases.

Band Gap

0.98–3.78 eV
Range across DFT structures · ground state: wide gap

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Stable
3 DFT sources

Structures

158
5 databases, 22 space groups
Validation

Cross-Source DFT Agreement

How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of CrF3. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.

Agreement Score

1.00 / 1.00
Trust tier: high

Hull Spread

0.000 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 CrF3, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
R-3c (No. 167)trigonal3.050.0000-6.8893.91
——1.340.0000-2.904—
R-3c (No. 167)trigonal1.070.0000-2.753—
R-3c (No. 167)trigonal1.070.0000-2.753—
——1.420.0205-2.883—
——1.420.0300-2.874—
——0.000.0508-2.853—
——1.490.0601-2.844—
——1.950.0935-2.810—
——2.000.0948-2.809—
——2.080.1000-2.804—
——1.800.1053-2.798—
Uses

Applications

Where Chromium(III) fluoride is used.

Fluorination catalystSurface treatment of metalsPigment productionDyeing auxiliary
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Chromium(III) fluoride, answered from cross-validated data.

What is CrF3?

Chromium(III) fluoride is a stable, insulating inorganic salt used primarily as a chemical reagent and in industrial surface finishing.

More questions
What is CrF3 used for?
Chromium(III) fluoride (CrF3) is used in fluorination catalyst, surface treatment of metals, pigment production, and dyeing auxiliary.
What is the band gap of CrF3?
Chromium(III) fluoride (CrF3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.98–3.78 eV across 158 reported structures. Standard DFT underestimates band gaps, so the measured gap is typically larger.
Is CrF3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
DFT predicts a wide band gap of up to 3.78 eV (an insulator or wide-band-gap material).
Is CrF3 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Chromium(III) fluoride (CrF3) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. stable.
What is the crystal structure of CrF3?
The reference structure of Chromium(III) fluoride (CrF3) is trigonal symmetry, space group R-3c (No. 167).
What is the density of CrF3?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Chromium(III) fluoride (CrF3) is 3.91 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of CrF3 are known?
158 structures of CrF3 are reported across 5 databases, spanning 22 distinct space groups.
What elements does CrF3 contain?
Chromium(III) fluoride (CrF3) contains Cr and F (2 elements).
Where does the data for CrF3 come from?
CrF3 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, oqmd, jarvis, mpaloe.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a prominent fluoride of chromium, this compound serves as a fundamental reference point for metal-halide chemistry. Its thermodynamic stability distinguishes it as a reliable, well-characterized material within the broader landscape of transition metal fluorides.

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.

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