NaClO4

Sodium perchlorate · Perchloric acid sodium salt

Sodium perchlorate is a stable, insulating salt widely utilized as a chemical precursor and reagent in various industrial and laboratory applications.

ClNaO
Crystal structure of NaClO4 (orthorhombic, Cmcm (No. 63))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Sodium perchlorate

Sodium perchlorate is a robust, thermodynamically stable inorganic salt that functions as a wide-gap insulator. Its ability to remain stable under various conditions makes it a reliable chemical intermediate in industrial and laboratory settings. The compound is characterized by a significant structural diversity, with numerous reported arrangements that reflect its versatile chemical nature. As a primary perchlorate salt, it serves as a foundational material for synthesizing other perchlorate-based compounds and specialized chemical agents. Its insulating electronic character is typical for this class of alkali metal oxyanion salts, ensuring predictable behavior in reactive environments.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Sodium perchlorate, aggregated across 3 databases.

Band Gap

4.50–5.46 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

19
3 databases, 4 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for NaClO4, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Cmcm (No. 63)orthorhombic5.460.0000-4.8352.63
I-42m (No. 121)tetragonal5.300.0039-4.8312.66
Pnma (No. 62)orthorhombic5.240.0205-4.8142.76
F-43m (No. 216)cubic4.500.1115-4.7232.02
F-43m (No. 216)
Pnma (No. 62)Orthorhombic2.53
Cmcm (No. 63)Orthorhombic2.53
F-43m (No. 216)Cubic2.05
F-43m (No. 216)Cubic2.13
F-43m (No. 216)Cubic2.02
Pnma (No. 62)
Cmcm (No. 63)Orthorhombic2.44
Synthesis

Synthesis Routes

Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting NaClO4.

Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Uses

Applications

Where Sodium perchlorate is used.

Chemical synthesisRocket propellant oxidizerLaboratory reagentExplosives manufacturing
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Sodium perchlorate, answered from cross-validated data.

What is NaClO4?

Sodium perchlorate is a stable, insulating salt widely utilized as a chemical precursor and reagent in various industrial and laboratory applications.

More questions
What is NaClO4 used for?
Sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) is used in chemical synthesis, rocket propellant oxidizer, laboratory reagent, and explosives manufacturing.
What is the band gap of NaClO4?
Sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) has a DFT-computed band gap of 4.50–5.46 eV across 19 reported structures.
Is NaClO4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 5.46 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is NaClO4 thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of NaClO4?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) is orthorhombic symmetry, space group Cmcm (No. 63).
What is the density of NaClO4?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) is 2.63 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of NaClO4 are known?
19 structures of NaClO4 are reported across 3 databases, spanning 4 distinct space groups.
How is NaClO4 synthesized?
Literature-reported routes for NaClO4 include sol-gel.
What elements does NaClO4 contain?
Sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) contains Cl, Na, and O (3 elements).
Where does the data for NaClO4 come from?
NaClO4 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, jarvis, mpaloe.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a prominent perchlorate salt, this compound serves as a benchmark for the stability and reactivity of the perchlorate anion. It occupies a central role in the study of alkali metal salts, providing a stable platform for understanding the structural preferences of highly oxidized chlorine species.

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.

Analyze NaClO4 in the Lattice Graph platform

Polymorph comparison, confidence scoring, supply-chain risk, and patent monitoring — across 53 integrated data sources.

Explore the Platform →