ZnCN
Zinc cyanide is a chemical compound composed of zinc and cyanide ions. It is primarily utilized in industrial processes involving the electroplating of zinc onto metal surfaces.
CNZn
Overview
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for ZnCN, 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.
5.51–5.92 eV
Range across DFT structures
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.
0.255 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources
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.
Above hull
1 DFT source
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
11
3 databases, 5 space groups
Crystallography
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for ZnCN, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P42nm (No. 102) | tetragonal | 5.51 | 0.2549 | -9.291 | 2.40 |
| P-43m (No. 215) | cubic | 5.92 | 0.2558 | -9.290 | 2.41 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.74 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.79 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.16 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.16 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.11 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.11 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.36 |
| R3m (No. 160) | — | — | — | — | — |
| P-6m2 (No. 187) | — | — | — | — | — |
Uses
Applications
Where ZnCN is used.
ElectroplatingGold extractionOrganic synthesis
Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about ZnCN, answered from cross-validated data.
What is ZnCN?
Zinc cyanide is a chemical compound composed of zinc and cyanide ions. It is primarily utilized in industrial processes involving the electroplating of zinc onto metal surfaces.
More questions
What is ZnCN used for?
ZnCN is used in electroplating, gold extraction, and organic synthesis.
What is the band gap of ZnCN?
ZnCN has a DFT-computed band gap of 5.51–5.92 eV across 11 reported structures.
Is ZnCN a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 5.92 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is ZnCN thermodynamically stable?
ZnCN has a lowest energy above hull of 0.255 eV/atom (above hull).
What is the crystal structure of ZnCN?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of ZnCN is tetragonal symmetry, space group P42nm (No. 102).
What is the density of ZnCN?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of ZnCN is 2.40 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of ZnCN are known?
11 structures of ZnCN are reported across 3 databases, spanning 5 distinct space groups.
What elements does ZnCN contain?
ZnCN contains C, N, and Zn (3 elements).
Where does the data for ZnCN come from?
ZnCN data is cross-referenced from materials_project, cod, jarvis.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
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