Cu4O20Te8
Cu4O20Te8 is a metastable, semiconducting spinel oxide material used in advanced catalytic research.

About Cu4O20Te8
Cu4O20Te8 is a complex semiconducting material categorized within the spinel oxide catalyst family. Its unique structural arrangement, characterized by the integration of copper and tellurium within an oxide framework, positions it as a specialized candidate for research into electronic and catalytic phenomena. Although it exists in a metastable state, its structural diversity across multiple databases highlights its significance in materials science exploration. This compound is primarily investigated for its potential to facilitate chemical transformations where electronic conductivity and structural flexibility are critical. By leveraging its semiconducting nature, researchers aim to optimize catalytic pathways that are otherwise inaccessible with traditional, more stable oxide insulators or conductors.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Cu4O20Te8, 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.
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 Cu4O20Te8, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 0.13 | 0.0275 | -5.720 | 5.48 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 1.44 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | — | 4.02 |
Applications
Where Cu4O20Te8 is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Cu4O20Te8, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Cu4O20Te8?
Cu4O20Te8 is a metastable, semiconducting spinel oxide material used in advanced catalytic research.
What is Cu4O20Te8 used for?
What is the band gap of Cu4O20Te8?
Is Cu4O20Te8 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Cu4O20Te8 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Cu4O20Te8?
What is the density of Cu4O20Te8?
How many polymorphs of Cu4O20Te8 are known?
What elements does Cu4O20Te8 contain?
Where does the data for Cu4O20Te8 come from?
How It Compares
Within the spinel oxide catalysts class.
Unlike the highly stable and widely utilized binary oxides such as CuO, NiO, and ZnO, or the robust ternary spinel MgAl2O4, Cu4O20Te8 occupies a more niche, metastable position. While perovskite-structured oxides like LaNiO3 and LaMnO3 are frequently studied for their magnetic and electronic properties, this tellurium-containing spinel offers a distinct structural motif that differentiates it from the more conventional aluminum-based oxides like Al2O3 and LaAlO3.
Related Compounds
Other Spinel Oxide Catalysts in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
- aflow — Data from AFLOW. Cite: Curtarolo et al., Comp. Mater. Sci. 58, 218 (2012).
- omat24 — Data from OMat24 (Meta FAIR). Cite: Barroso-Luque et al., arXiv 2410.12771 (2024).
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