NaCl
Sodium chloride · Table salt, Halite, Rock salt
Sodium chloride is a common, stable ionic compound widely known as table salt that plays a vital role in both biological systems and industrial chemical production.
About Sodium chloride
Sodium chloride is a fundamental ionic compound characterized by its high thermodynamic stability and insulating electronic nature. It forms a robust crystal lattice that serves as the standard reference for simple ionic bonding in materials science.
Beyond its ubiquity in culinary applications, this compound is a critical feedstock for the chlor-alkali industry. Its chemical reliability and abundance make it a cornerstone material for producing essential chemical precursors used in manufacturing and water treatment.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Sodium chloride, 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.
Synthesis Routes
Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting NaCl.
Applications
Where Sodium chloride is used.
Patent Landscape
11 patents reference NaCl or close compositional variants.
| Patent | Title | Assignee | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6063345 | Method of separating NaCl from a LiCl solution | — | — |
| 4522951 | Removal of Mg.sup.++ and Ca.sup.++ ions from NaCl brine | — | — |
| 4067751 | Aqueous NaCl test solution for aluminum and its alloys | — | — |
| 4472361 | Method of recovering alumina values from a starting solid mixture comprising AlCl.sub.3 and NaCl | — | — |
| 6547948 | Method of increasing the concentration of dilute brine in NaCl electrolysis plants using the membrane process | — | — |
| 7988763 | Use of a binary salt flux of NaCl and MgCl2 for the purification of aluminium or aluminium alloys, and method | — | — |
| 4125586 | Removal of AlCl.sub.3 from crude TiCl.sub.4 by addition of H.sub.2 O and NaCl | — | — |
| 11040903 | Purification of NaCl brine containing iodine | — | — |
| 4405574 | Removal of Mg.sup.++ and Ca.sup.++ ions from NaCl brine | — | — |
| 4519806 | Enhanced recovery of soda ash from aqueous sodium carbonate solutions containing Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 - and NaCl | — | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Sodium chloride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is NaCl?
Sodium chloride is a common, stable ionic compound widely known as table salt that plays a vital role in both biological systems and industrial chemical production.
What is NaCl used for?
What is the band gap of NaCl?
Is NaCl a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is NaCl thermodynamically stable?
How many polymorphs of NaCl are known?
How is NaCl synthesized?
What elements does NaCl contain?
Where does the data for NaCl come from?
How It Compares
As one of the most extensively studied and structurally documented compounds in existence, sodium chloride serves as the primary benchmark for ionic solids. Its stability and predictable behavior provide the baseline against which other binary ionic materials are evaluated.
Data sources & attribution
- latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform
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