PbCO3
Cerussite · lead carbonate
Cerussite is a stable, insulating lead carbonate mineral that serves as a major industrial source of lead.

About Cerussite
PbCO3 is a naturally occurring lead carbonate that exists as a thermodynamically stable phase. As a wide-band-gap insulator, it exhibits distinct electronic characteristics typical of stable mineral carbonates, making it a subject of extensive structural study with numerous documented configurations.
This compound serves as a critical geological source of lead. Its stability and prevalence in the Earth's crust have made it one of the most significant minerals for the extraction of lead metal, which is subsequently utilized across a wide variety of industrial and chemical manufacturing processes.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Cerussite, 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.
Synthesis Routes
Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting PbCO3.
Applications
Where Cerussite is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Cerussite, answered from cross-validated data.
What is PbCO3?
Cerussite is a stable, insulating lead carbonate mineral that serves as a major industrial source of lead.
What is PbCO3 used for?
What is the band gap of PbCO3?
Is PbCO3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is PbCO3 thermodynamically stable?
How many polymorphs of PbCO3 are known?
How is PbCO3 synthesized?
What elements does PbCO3 contain?
Where does the data for PbCO3 come from?
How It Compares
As a naturally occurring mineral, PbCO3 represents a foundational example of stable lead-based carbonates, serving as the primary benchmark for understanding the structural and chemical behavior of lead within carbonate systems.
Data sources & attribution
- latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform
Analyze PbCO3 in the Lattice Graph platform
Polymorph comparison, confidence scoring, supply-chain risk, and patent monitoring — across 53 integrated data sources.
Explore the Platform →