H4C
Methane · CH4, Natural gas
Methane is the simplest alkane hydrocarbon and a primary component of natural gas, characterized by its high thermodynamic stability and insulating electronic nature.
About Methane
Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon and a fundamental building block in organic chemistry. As a thermodynamically stable compound, it exists as a wide-band-gap insulator, representing a primary component of natural gas and a key feedstock for industrial chemical synthesis. Its structural simplicity makes it a highly studied subject in molecular modeling and materials science, with extensive data available across multiple structural databases. Beyond its role in energy, methane is critical for understanding carbon-hydrogen bonding and serves as a precursor in the production of hydrogen and various synthetic materials. Its stability and abundance make it a cornerstone of both geological processes and chemical engineering applications.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Methane, 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.
Synthesis Routes
Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting H4C.
Applications
Where Methane is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Methane, answered from cross-validated data.
What is H4C?
Methane is the simplest alkane hydrocarbon and a primary component of natural gas, characterized by its high thermodynamic stability and insulating electronic nature.
What is H4C used for?
What is the band gap of H4C?
Is H4C a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is H4C thermodynamically stable?
How many polymorphs of H4C are known?
How is H4C synthesized?
What elements does H4C contain?
Where does the data for H4C come from?
How It Compares
As the foundational member of the alkane series, methane sets the standard for the chemical and physical behavior of saturated hydrocarbons, serving as the benchmark against which more complex, higher-order carbon-hydrogen structures are measured.
Data sources & attribution
- latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform
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