ZnCl2
zinc chloride · butter of zinc
Zinc chloride is a stable, insulating metal halide widely used as a versatile chemical reagent and industrial flux.

About zinc chloride
Zinc chloride is a highly versatile inorganic compound that exists as a thermodynamically stable solid. Due to its wide-gap insulating nature, it exhibits unique reactivity and solubility characteristics that distinguish it from many other metal halides.
This compound is widely utilized in industrial processes ranging from chemical synthesis to metallurgical fluxing. Its stability and predictable chemical behavior make it a fundamental reagent in both laboratory research and large-scale manufacturing environments.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for zinc chloride, 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.
Synthesis Routes
Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting ZnCl2.
Applications
Where zinc chloride is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about zinc chloride, answered from cross-validated data.
What is ZnCl2?
Zinc chloride is a stable, insulating metal halide widely used as a versatile chemical reagent and industrial flux.
What is ZnCl2 used for?
What is the band gap of ZnCl2?
Is ZnCl2 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is ZnCl2 thermodynamically stable?
How many polymorphs of ZnCl2 are known?
How is ZnCl2 synthesized?
What elements does ZnCl2 contain?
Where does the data for ZnCl2 come from?
How It Compares
As a prominent metal halide, zinc chloride serves as a benchmark for ionic-covalent bonding characteristics within its class. It is recognized for its significant structural diversity, being one of the most extensively documented compounds in its category across multiple crystallographic databases.
Data sources & attribution
- latticegraph — Lattice Graph Materials Intelligence Platform
Analyze ZnCl2 in the Lattice Graph platform
Polymorph comparison, confidence scoring, supply-chain risk, and patent monitoring — across 53 integrated data sources.
Explore the Platform →