Na2SO4
Sodium sulfate · Thenardite, Glauber's salt
Sodium sulfate is a stable, insulating inorganic salt widely utilized as a key industrial chemical in the manufacturing of detergents and glass.
About Sodium sulfate
Sodium sulfate is a robust, thermodynamically stable compound that exists as a wide-gap insulator. Its structural versatility is highlighted by the numerous distinct crystalline forms documented across scientific databases, reflecting its complex phase behavior under varying environmental conditions.
This material serves as a critical commodity chemical in global industry. Due to its chemical stability and solubility characteristics, it is an essential component in the production of powdered detergents, paper pulp, and specialized glass, where it acts as a refining agent to remove air bubbles.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Sodium sulfate, 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.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of Na2SO4. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Na2SO4, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fddd (No. 70) | orthorhombic | 5.44 | 0.0000 | -1.918 | — |
| — | — | 5.43 | 0.0000 | -2.126 | — |
| Fddd (No. 70) | orthorhombic | 4.99 | 0.0000 | -6.007 | 2.74 |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 5.47 | 0.0022 | -1.916 | — |
| Cmcm (No. 63) | orthorhombic | 4.97 | 0.0036 | -6.003 | 2.78 |
| — | — | 5.45 | 0.0037 | -2.122 | — |
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 5.03 | 0.0061 | -6.001 | 2.77 |
| — | — | 5.62 | 0.0087 | -2.117 | — |
| — | — | 5.08 | 0.1165 | -2.009 | — |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | 1.65 | 0.3718 | -5.635 | 1.97 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | 0.18 | 0.7433 | -5.264 | 2.09 |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.9555 | -1.170 | — |
Applications
Where Sodium sulfate is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Sodium sulfate, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Na2SO4?
Sodium sulfate is a stable, insulating inorganic salt widely utilized as a key industrial chemical in the manufacturing of detergents and glass.
What is Na2SO4 used for?
What is the band gap of Na2SO4?
Is Na2SO4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Na2SO4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Na2SO4?
How many polymorphs of Na2SO4 are known?
What elements does Na2SO4 contain?
Where does the data for Na2SO4 come from?
How It Compares
As a highly stable and well-documented inorganic salt, this compound serves as a foundational reference material for studies involving sodium-based sulfur-containing systems, representing a benchmark for thermodynamic stability within its chemical family.
Data sources & attribution
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- 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)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database (crystallography.net/cod/). Cite: Grazulis et al., J. Appl. Cryst. 42, 726 (2009). (CC0-1.0)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
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