MgSO4
Magnesium sulfate · Epsom salt, Bitter salt
Magnesium sulfate is a stable, insulating inorganic salt widely used in agriculture, medicine, and industrial chemical processes.
About Magnesium sulfate
Magnesium sulfate is a thermodynamically stable inorganic compound that exists as a wide-gap insulator. Its structural versatility is evidenced by the numerous distinct crystalline forms identified across various databases, making it a highly studied material in solid-state chemistry.
Due to its inherent stability and electronic characteristics, this compound serves as a foundational material in industrial and biological contexts. It is widely recognized for its ability to form various hydrated phases, which are essential for its utility in chemical synthesis and manufacturing.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Magnesium sulfate, 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 MgSO4, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 5.49 | 0.0000 | -6.662 | 3.04 |
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 5.53 | 0.0053 | -6.657 | 2.95 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 0.30 | 0.7923 | -5.870 | 2.24 |
| Pnma (No. 62) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pnma (No. 62) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 2.81 |
| Pnma (No. 62) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 3.00 |
| Pnma (No. 62) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 2.87 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 2.89 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 3.08 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 2.95 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.30 |
Synthesis Routes
Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting MgSO4.
Applications
Where Magnesium sulfate is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Magnesium sulfate, answered from cross-validated data.
What is MgSO4?
Magnesium sulfate is a stable, insulating inorganic salt widely used in agriculture, medicine, and industrial chemical processes.
What is MgSO4 used for?
What is the band gap of MgSO4?
Is MgSO4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is MgSO4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of MgSO4?
What is the density of MgSO4?
How many polymorphs of MgSO4 are known?
How is MgSO4 synthesized?
What elements does MgSO4 contain?
Where does the data for MgSO4 come from?
How It Compares
As a standalone inorganic compound, magnesium sulfate serves as a primary reference point for sulfate-based materials. Its position on the convex hull ensures high thermodynamic stability, establishing it as a robust benchmark for comparing the structural and electronic behavior of other metal sulfates.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
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