SF6
Sulfur hexafluoride · SF6
Sulfur hexafluoride is an inert, colorless, and odorless synthetic gas known for its exceptional stability and electrical insulating properties. It is widely utilized in heavy industrial equipment to prevent electrical arcs and ensure the safe operation of high-voltage systems.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Sulfur hexafluoride, 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.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for SF6, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C2/m (No. 12) | monoclinic | 5.91 | 0.0000 | -5.681 | 2.80 |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | trigonal | 5.92 | 0.0003 | -5.680 | 2.77 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | triclinic | 5.96 | 0.0019 | -5.679 | 2.80 |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | cubic | 5.81 | 0.0089 | -5.672 | 2.56 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | Cubic | — | — | — | 2.26 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 3.31 |
| P1 (No. 1) | Triclinic | — | — | — | 3.14 |
| P-3m1 (No. 164) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pm (No. 6) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 4.84 |
| Im-3m (No. 229) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P2/m (No. 10) | Monoclinic | — | — | — | 3.19 |
Applications
Where Sulfur hexafluoride is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Sulfur hexafluoride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is SF6?
Sulfur hexafluoride is an inert, colorless, and odorless synthetic gas known for its exceptional stability and electrical insulating properties. It is widely utilized in heavy industrial equipment to prevent electrical arcs and ensure the safe operation of high-voltage systems.
What is SF6 used for?
What is the band gap of SF6?
Is SF6 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is SF6 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of SF6?
What is the density of SF6?
How many polymorphs of SF6 are known?
What elements does SF6 contain?
Where does the data for SF6 come from?
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.
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