NaF

Sodium fluoride · Villiaumite

Sodium fluoride is a stable, insulating salt widely recognized for its role as a fundamental alkali halide in chemical research and industrial applications.

FNa
Crystal structure of NaF
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About Sodium fluoride

Sodium fluoride is a simple inorganic salt composed of sodium and fluorine. It is characterized as a wide-gap insulator that exhibits exceptional thermodynamic stability, consistently appearing on the convex hull of its constituent elements.

Due to its robust chemical nature and structural simplicity, this compound is a highly studied material with extensive documentation across numerous crystallographic databases. Its stability and electronic properties make it a foundational reference point in the study of alkali halides.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Sodium fluoride, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

6.20 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

147
4 databases, 24 space groups
Synthesis

Synthesis Routes

Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting NaF.

Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Sol Gel
Procedure available · ceder_sol_gel
Solid State
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Solid State
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Uses

Applications

Where Sodium fluoride is used.

Water fluoridationDental hygiene productsFlux in metallurgyOptical component manufacturingSynthetic chemistry reagent
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

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

What is NaF?

Sodium fluoride is a stable, insulating salt widely recognized for its role as a fundamental alkali halide in chemical research and industrial applications.

More questions
What is NaF used for?
Sodium fluoride (NaF) is used in water fluoridation, dental hygiene products, flux in metallurgy, optical component manufacturing, and synthetic chemistry reagent.
What is the band gap of NaF?
Sodium fluoride (NaF) has a DFT-computed band gap of 6.20 eV across 147 reported structures.
Is NaF a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 6.20 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is NaF thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Sodium fluoride (NaF) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
How many polymorphs of NaF are known?
147 structures of NaF are reported across 4 databases, spanning 24 distinct space groups.
How is NaF synthesized?
Literature-reported routes for NaF include sol gel, solid state (10 procedures documented).
What elements does NaF contain?
Sodium fluoride (NaF) contains F and Na (2 elements).
Where does the data for NaF come from?
NaF data is cross-referenced from latticegraph.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a fundamental alkali halide, sodium fluoride serves as a primary archetype for understanding ionic bonding and lattice structures in inorganic chemistry. It represents a highly stable, insulating benchmark against which more complex or less stable halide systems are evaluated.

Data sources & attribution
  • latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform

Analyze NaF in the Lattice Graph platform

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

Explore the Platform →