Zinc phosphide
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| Other names
trizinc diphosphide
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3D model (Jmol)
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| ChemSpider | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.013.859 |
| UNII | |
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| Properties | |
| Zn3P2 | |
| Molar mass | 258.12 g/mol |
| Appearance | gray tetragonal crystals |
| Density | 4.55 g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 1,160 °C (2,120 °F; 1,430 K) |
| reacts | |
| Solubility | insoluble in ethanol, soluble in benzene, reacts with acids |
| Structure | |
| Tetragonal, tP40 | |
| P42/nmc, No. 137 | |
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Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Zinc phosphide (Zn3P2) is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a grey solid, although commercial samples are often dark or even black. It is used as a rodenticide. Zn3P2 is a semiconductor with a direct band gap of 1.5 eV. and may have applications in photovoltaic cells. A second zinc phosphide is known, with the stoichiometry ZnP2.
Zinc phosphide can be prepared by the reaction of zinc with phosphorus; however, for critical applications, additional processing to remove arsenic compounds may be needed.
Another method of preparation include reacting tri-n-octylphosphine with dimethylzinc.
Zinc phosphide reacts with water to produce phosphine (PH3) and zinc hydroxide (Zn(OH)2):
Zn3P2 has two forms, a room temperature tetragonal form which converts to a cubic form at around 845 °C. In the room temperature form there are discrete P atoms, zinc atoms are tetrahedrally coordinated and phosphorus six coordinate, with zinc atoms at 6 of the vertices of a distorted cube. ZnP2 has two forms a lower temperature red tetragonal form and a black monoclinic form. In both of these there are chains of P atoms, helical in the tetragonal, semi-spiral in the monoclinic.
Zinc Phosphide is an ideal candidate for thin film photovoltaic applications, since it has strong optical absorption and an almost ideal band gap (1.5eV). In addition to this, both zinc and phosphorus are found abundantly in the earth’s crust, meaning that material extraction cost is low compared to other thin film photovoltaics. Both zinc and phosphorus are also nontoxic, which is not the case for other common commercial thin film photovoltaics, like Cadmium Telluride.
Researchers at the University of Alberta have successfully synthesized colloidal zinc phosphide, and are the first to do so. Before, researchers were able to create efficient solar cells from bulk zinc phosphide, but their fabrication required temperatures greater than 850 C or complicated vacuum deposition methods. By contrast, colloidal zinc phosphide nanoparticles, contained in a zinc phosphide “ink”, allows for inexpensive, easy large-scale production, by means of slot-die coating or spray coating.
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Wikipedia