SbCl3
antimony trichloride · butter of antimony
Antimony trichloride is a stable, insulating inorganic compound widely utilized as a reagent and catalyst in chemical manufacturing.
About antimony trichloride
Antimony trichloride is a thermodynamically stable compound that functions as a wide-gap insulator. Its distinct chemical properties make it a versatile reagent in laboratory settings and industrial manufacturing processes.
Because it resides on the convex hull, this material exhibits robust stability under standard conditions. It is frequently employed as a precursor for other antimony-containing materials and plays a significant role in specialized chemical synthesis.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for antimony trichloride, 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 SbCl3. 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 SbCl3, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 3.75 | 0.0000 | -3.748 | 3.07 |
| — | — | 3.62 | 0.0000 | -1.155 | — |
| Pnma (No. 62) | orthorhombic | 3.45 | 0.0000 | -0.882 | — |
| — | — | 3.60 | 0.0000 | -1.155 | — |
| — | — | 3.26 | 0.0164 | -1.138 | — |
| — | — | 3.64 | 0.0191 | -1.135 | — |
| — | — | 3.59 | 0.0194 | -1.135 | — |
| — | — | 3.60 | 0.0302 | -1.124 | — |
| — | — | 2.75 | 0.0431 | -1.112 | — |
| — | — | 1.93 | 0.2752 | -0.879 | — |
| — | — | 0.78 | 0.6502 | -0.504 | — |
| — | — | 0.69 | 0.6659 | -0.489 | — |
Applications
Where antimony trichloride is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about antimony trichloride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is SbCl3?
Antimony trichloride is a stable, insulating inorganic compound widely utilized as a reagent and catalyst in chemical manufacturing.
What is SbCl3 used for?
What is the band gap of SbCl3?
Is SbCl3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is SbCl3 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of SbCl3?
What is the density of SbCl3?
How many polymorphs of SbCl3 are known?
What elements does SbCl3 contain?
Where does the data for SbCl3 come from?
How It Compares
As a standalone compound in its specific chemical context, antimony trichloride serves as a primary reference point for antimony-based halides. Its stability and insulating nature define the baseline performance for related chemical derivatives used in industrial catalysis and material processing.
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)
- 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)
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
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