Cu2O
Cuprous oxide · Copper(I) oxide, Red copper oxide
Cuprous oxide is a reddish inorganic compound that occurs naturally as the mineral cuprite. It is widely utilized as a pigment, a fungicide, and a semiconductor material in various electronic and optical devices.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Cuprous oxide, 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.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Cu2O, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pn-3m (No. 224) | cubic | 0.51 | 0.0000 | -5.027 | 6.20 |
| Pm (No. 6) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 3.45 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 6.46 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 5.76 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 5.54 |
| Cm (No. 8) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 6.38 |
| P3m1 (No. 156) | Trigonal | — | — | — | 7.09 |
| P3m1 (No. 156) | Trigonal | — | — | — | 7.07 |
| P4/nmm (No. 129) | Tetragonal | — | — | — | 6.18 |
| Pnnm (No. 58) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 6.26 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 6.70 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 4.92 |
Synthesis Routes
Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting Cu2O.
Applications
Where Cuprous oxide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Cuprous oxide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Cu2O?
Cuprous oxide is a reddish inorganic compound that occurs naturally as the mineral cuprite. It is widely utilized as a pigment, a fungicide, and a semiconductor material in various electronic and optical devices.
What is Cu2O used for?
What is the band gap of Cu2O?
Is Cu2O a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Cu2O thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Cu2O?
What is the density of Cu2O?
How many polymorphs of Cu2O are known?
How is Cu2O synthesized?
What elements does Cu2O contain?
Where does the data for Cu2O come from?
Related Compounds
Other Conversion Oxide Anodes in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
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