Sb2O3
Antimony trioxide · Antimony(III) oxide, Senarmontite, Valentinite
Antimony trioxide is a stable, insulating oxide primarily used as a flame retardant and an industrial additive for glass and plastic manufacturing.
About Antimony trioxide
Antimony trioxide is a thermodynamically stable inorganic compound that exists in multiple structural forms. As a wide-gap insulator, it exhibits distinct electronic properties that make it highly versatile for industrial applications requiring chemical stability and specific optical characteristics.
This material is extensively utilized due to its effectiveness as a flame retardant synergist when combined with halogenated compounds. Beyond fire safety, it serves as a critical additive in the production of high-quality glass, ceramics, and specialized polymers to improve clarity and durability.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Antimony trioxide, 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.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of Sb2O3. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for Sb2O3, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pccn (No. 56) | orthorhombic | 2.23 | 0.0000 | -6.372 | 5.83 |
| Pccn (No. 56) | orthorhombic | 2.16 | 0.0000 | -1.447 | — |
| Pccn (No. 56) | orthorhombic | 2.16 | 0.0000 | -1.447 | — |
| — | — | 1.97 | 0.0000 | -1.580 | — |
| Fd-3m (No. 227) | cubic | 3.35 | 0.0047 | -6.367 | 5.48 |
| — | — | 2.91 | 0.0092 | -1.570 | — |
| Fd-3m (No. 227) | cubic | 3.12 | 0.0100 | -1.437 | — |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 2.80 | 0.0184 | -6.354 | 5.47 |
| P212121 (No. 19) | orthorhombic | 2.34 | 0.0325 | -6.340 | 5.42 |
| — | — | 2.76 | 0.0371 | -1.543 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.0708 | -1.509 | — |
| — | — | 2.59 | 0.0913 | -1.488 | — |
Applications
Where Antimony trioxide is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Antimony trioxide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is Sb2O3?
Antimony trioxide is a stable, insulating oxide primarily used as a flame retardant and an industrial additive for glass and plastic manufacturing.
What is Sb2O3 used for?
What is the band gap of Sb2O3?
Is Sb2O3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is Sb2O3 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of Sb2O3?
What is the density of Sb2O3?
How many polymorphs of Sb2O3 are known?
What elements does Sb2O3 contain?
Where does the data for Sb2O3 come from?
How It Compares
As a prominent and well-characterized oxide, this compound serves as a benchmark for antimony-based materials. Its high structural diversity, evidenced by numerous reported configurations, positions it as a foundational material in the study of group fifteen metal oxides.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
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