NaH
Sodium hydride · NaH
Sodium hydride is a stable, insulating ionic compound used primarily as a potent base in chemical synthesis and as a hydrogen storage material.

About Sodium hydride
Sodium hydride is a binary ionic compound that serves as a fundamental member of the hydrogen storage hydride class. Characterized by its insulating electronic nature, it remains thermodynamically stable under standard conditions, making it a reliable and well-documented material in solid-state chemistry.
Beyond its role in storage research, this compound is widely utilized as a powerful base in organic synthesis. Its high reactivity and stability profiles allow it to facilitate complex chemical transformations, positioning it as a cornerstone reagent in laboratory and industrial chemical production.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Sodium hydride, 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 NaH.
Applications
Where Sodium hydride is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Sodium hydride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is NaH?
Sodium hydride is a stable, insulating ionic compound used primarily as a potent base in chemical synthesis and as a hydrogen storage material.
What is NaH used for?
What is the band gap of NaH?
Is NaH a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is NaH thermodynamically stable?
How many polymorphs of NaH are known?
How is NaH synthesized?
What elements does NaH contain?
Where does the data for NaH come from?
How It Compares
Within the hydrogen storage hydrides class.
Within the diverse family of hydrogen storage hydrides, sodium hydride is distinguished by its high thermodynamic stability compared to more complex or volatile members like aluminum hydride or borane. While it shares ionic characteristics with lithium hydride, it offers different reactivity profiles that make it a preferred choice for specific synthetic applications where stronger basicity or distinct kinetic pathways are required compared to alkaline earth metal hydrides like calcium hydride.
Related Compounds
Other Hydrogen Storage Hydrides in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform
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