ZnSiO3
Zinc metasilicate · Willemite (related phase)
Zinc metasilicate is an inorganic compound that functions as a silicate mineral. It is primarily utilized for its optical properties in various lighting and display technologies.
Overview
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Zinc metasilicate, aggregated across 4 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.
3.34–3.59 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.
0.038 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.
Metastable
2 DFT sources
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
21
4 databases, 7 space groups
Crystallography
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for ZnSiO3, 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ibam (No. 72) | orthorhombic | 3.57 | 0.0384 | -6.962 | 3.46 |
| C2/c (No. 15) | monoclinic | 3.44 | 0.0502 | -6.950 | 4.00 |
| Pbca (No. 61) | orthorhombic | 3.46 | 0.0553 | -6.945 | 4.09 |
| P21/c (No. 14) | monoclinic | 3.34 | 0.0588 | -6.942 | 4.11 |
| R-3 (No. 148) | trigonal | 3.59 | 0.1498 | -6.851 | 5.03 |
| Pm-3m (No. 221) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.5805 | -6.420 | 5.29 |
| Ibam (No. 72) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pm-3m (No. 221) | — | — | — | — | — |
| R-3 (No. 148) | Trigonal | — | — | — | 5.20 |
| No. 0 | unknown | — | — | — | 0.68 |
| R-3 (No. 148) | Trigonal | — | — | — | 5.40 |
| R-3 (No. 148) | Trigonal | — | — | — | 5.03 |
Uses
Applications
Where Zinc metasilicate is used.
Phosphor materialsCathode ray tubesCeramic pigmentsFluorescent lighting
Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Zinc metasilicate, answered from cross-validated data.
What is ZnSiO3?
Zinc metasilicate is an inorganic compound that functions as a silicate mineral. It is primarily utilized for its optical properties in various lighting and display technologies.
What is ZnSiO3 used for?
Zinc metasilicate (ZnSiO3) is used in phosphor materials, cathode ray tubes, ceramic pigments, and fluorescent lighting.
What is the band gap of ZnSiO3?
Zinc metasilicate (ZnSiO3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 3.34–3.59 eV across 21 reported structures.
Is ZnSiO3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 3.59 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is ZnSiO3 thermodynamically stable?
Zinc metasilicate (ZnSiO3) has a lowest energy above hull of 0.038 eV/atom (metastable).
What is the crystal structure of ZnSiO3?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Zinc metasilicate (ZnSiO3) is orthorhombic symmetry, space group Ibam (No. 72).
What is the density of ZnSiO3?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Zinc metasilicate (ZnSiO3) is 3.46 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of ZnSiO3 are known?
21 structures of ZnSiO3 are reported across 4 databases, spanning 7 distinct space groups.
What elements does ZnSiO3 contain?
Zinc metasilicate (ZnSiO3) contains O, Si, and Zn (3 elements).
Where does the data for ZnSiO3 come from?
ZnSiO3 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, jarvis, mpaloe, cod.
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Related Compounds
Other Transparent Conducting Oxides in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
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