UN2
uranium dinitride · uranium nitride
Uranium dinitride is a stable, semiconducting binary compound of uranium and nitrogen utilized in advanced materials research.
About uranium dinitride
Uranium dinitride is a binary inorganic compound composed of uranium and nitrogen. As a thermodynamically stable material situated on the convex hull, it represents a robust phase within the uranium-nitrogen system, characterized by its semiconducting electronic nature.
This compound is of significant interest in materials science due to its structural diversity, with numerous reported configurations across major databases. Its stability and electronic properties make it a subject of ongoing investigation for specialized applications in nuclear energy technology.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for uranium dinitride, 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 UN2. 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 UN2, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 1.04 | 0.0000 | -1.495 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.86 | 0.0000 | -1.574 | — |
| Fm-3m (No. 225) | cubic | 0.69 | 0.0000 | -34.376 | 12.13 |
| — | — | 0.68 | 0.1464 | -1.349 | — |
| — | — | 0.34 | 0.9366 | -0.559 | — |
| Cm (No. 8) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 5.46 |
| Cm (No. 8) | monoclinic | — | — | — | 7.94 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | — | — | — | 6.45 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | — | — | — | 10.39 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | triclinic | — | — | — | 9.48 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | triclinic | — | — | — | 13.26 |
| P-1 (No. 2) | triclinic | — | — | — | 12.35 |
Applications
Where uranium dinitride is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about uranium dinitride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is UN2?
Uranium dinitride is a stable, semiconducting binary compound of uranium and nitrogen utilized in advanced materials research.
What is UN2 used for?
What is the band gap of UN2?
Is UN2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is UN2 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of UN2?
How many polymorphs of UN2 are known?
What elements does UN2 contain?
Where does the data for UN2 come from?
How It Compares
As a stable binary nitride, this compound serves as a fundamental reference point for understanding the behavior of actinide-based semiconductors, representing a key phase in the study of nitrogen-rich uranium materials.
Data sources & attribution
- 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)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- mpaloe — Data from MP-ALOE. Cite: Kuner et al., npj Comput. Mater. (2025), doi:10.1038/s41524-025-01834-9.
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database (crystallography.net/cod/). Cite: Grazulis et al., J. Appl. Cryst. 42, 726 (2009). (CC0-1.0)
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