Gallium information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its high purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.
Gallium is one of three elements that naturally occur as a liquid at room temperature. The other two are mercury and cesium. The application of gallium that has received the most attention is the production of semiconducting compounds. Of these, the most important are the compounds of gallium with antimony, arsenic or phosphor . Nowadays gallium arsenide (Ga-As) is undoubtedly the most used. This compound is used in the production of several electronic parts such as diodes and transistors, made for voltage rectification, signal amplification, etc. Other gallium arsenide applications are the semiconductor "lasing" and microwave generation and also in sensors to measure temperature, light or magnetic field. Gallium is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.9999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder.
Gallium facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are
available for many specific states, forms and shapes on the product pages listed to the left. Elemental or metallic forms include pellets, rod, wire and granules for evaporation source material purposes. Nanoparticles and nanopowders provide ultra high surface area which nanotechnology research and recent experiments demonstrate function to create new and unique properties and benefits.
Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Gallium is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries.
Gallium is a Block P, Group 13, Period 4 element. The number of electrons in each of Gallium's shells is 2, 8, 18, 3 and its electronic configuration is [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p1. In its elemental form gallium's CAS number is 7440-55-3. The gallium atom has a radius of 122.1.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 187.pm. Gallium is not toxic.
All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, thin fillm deposition using sputtering targets and evaporation materials, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology applications. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Gallium compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis.
Gallium does not exist by itself in nature and is sourced commercially from bauxite and sphalerite. Gallium was first discovered by Hans Christian Oersted in 1825. The element name originates from the Latin word 'Gallia', the old name of France and the word 'Gallus' meaning rooster.
Gallium |
Gallium |
Gallio |
Gálio |
Galio |
Gallium |
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of gallium and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
| Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
| Ga-69 |
68.925581 |
60.11 |
| Ga-71 |
70.924705 |
39.89 |
The following table shows the abundance of Gallium present in the human body and in the universe scaled to parts per billion (ppb) by weight and by atom:
| |
Typical Human Body |
Universe |
| by Weight |
no data |
10 ppb |
| by Atom |
no data |
0.2 ppb |
Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for gallium metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin. Gallium compounds have no biological role.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for gallium (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table:
| 1st Ionization Energy |
578.85 kJ mol-1 |
| 2nd Ionization Energy |
1979.33 kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd Ionization Energy |
2963.09 kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to gallium's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 17.4 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.81. The thermal conductivity of gallium is 40.6 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for gallium are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
| Heat of Fusion |
5.59 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Vaporization |
270.3 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Atomization |
276 kJ mol-1 |
Recent Research & Development for GalliumTime-Resolved EPR and Phosphorescence Studies of the Lowest Excited Triplet States of Rh(III) Corrole Complexes.
Tanabe M, Matsuoka H, Ohba Y, Yamauchi S, Sugisaki K, Toyota K, Sato K, Takui T, Goldberg I, Saltsman I, Gross Z.
J Phys Chem A. 2012 Sep 4. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22946766
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Milliwatt-level mid-infrared (10.5-16.5 µm) difference frequency generation with a femtosecond dual-signal-wavelength optical parametric oscillator.
Hegenbarth R, Steinmann A, Sarkisov S, Giessen H.
Opt Lett. 2012 Sep 1;37(17):3513-5. doi: 10.1364/OL.37.003513.
PMID:
22940933
[PubMed - in process]
Formation of Self-Organized Nanoporous Anodic Oxide from Metallic Gallium.
Pandey B, Thapa PS, Higgins DA, Ito T.
Langmuir. 2012 Aug 30. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22934571
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Observation of Surface Plasmon Polariton Pumping of Optical Eigenmodes of Gold-Decorated Gallium Nitride Nanowires.
Sundararajan JP, Bakharev P, Niraula I, Fouetio Kengne BA, Macpherson Q, Sargent M, Hare B, McIlroy DN.
Nano Lett. 2012 Sep 5. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22924895
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Noncontact Measurement of Charge Carrier Lifetime and Mobility in GaN Nanowires.
Parkinson P, Dodson C, Joyce HJ, Bertness KA, Sanford NA, Herz LM, Johnston MB.
Nano Lett. 2012 Aug 31. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22924866
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Three-dimensional nanofabrication of polystyrene by focused ion beam.
Lee CC, Proust G, Alici G, Spinks GM, Cairney JM.
J Microsc. 2012 Aug 24. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2012.03656.x. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22924453
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
(68)Ga-labeled bombesin analogs for receptor-mediated imaging.
Varshney R, Hazari PP, Fernandez P, Schulz J, Allard M, Mishra AK.
Recent Results Cancer Res. 2012;194:221-56.
PMID:
22918762
[PubMed - in process]
Iron-targeting antitumor activity of gallium compounds and novel insights into Triapine®-metal complexes.
Chitambar CR, Antholine WE.
Antioxid Redox Signal. 2012 Aug 19. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22900955
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Harmonic surface acoustic waves on gallium nitride thin films.
Justice J, Lee K, Korakakis D.
IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2012 Aug;59(8):1806-11.
PMID:
22899127
[PubMed - in process]
Fever of unknown origin (FUO) attributable to large B-cell lymphoma: The diagnostic significance of highly elevated alkaline phosphatase and serum ferritin levels.
Petelin A, Cunha BA.
Heart Lung. 2012 Aug 13. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22898330
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Improved light extraction of InGaN/GaN blue LEDs by GaOOH NRAs using a thin ATO seed layer.
Lee HK, Joo DH, Kim MS, Yu JS.
Nanoscale Res Lett. 2012 Aug 16;7(1):458. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22898006
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Free Article
A study of the production and reversible stability of EGaIn liquid metal microspheres using flow focusing.
Thelen J, Dickey MD, Ward T.
Lab Chip. 2012 Aug 16. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22895484
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid with beta-Ga2O3 in anoxic aqueous solution.
Zhao B, Lv M, Zhou L.
J Environ Sci (China). 2012;24(4):774-80.
PMID:
22894115
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
In vitro assessment of the bactericidal effect of low-power arsenium-gallium (AsGa) laser treatment.
Costa AF, Assis JC.
An Bras Dermatol. 2012 Aug;87(4):654-6.
PMID:
22892791
[PubMed - in process]
Free Article
Water-Driven Micromotors.
Gao W, Pei A, Wang J.
ACS Nano. 2012 Aug 17. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22891973
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Onco-Nephrology: The Pathophysiology and Treatment of Malignancy-Associated Hypercalcemia.
Rosner MH, Dalkin AC.
Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Aug 9. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22879438
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Therapeutic effects of low-level laser therapy after premolar extraction in adolescents: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.
Paschoal MA, Santos-Pinto L.
Photomed Laser Surg. 2012 Sep;30(9):559-64. Epub 2012 Aug 7.
PMID:
22870960
[PubMed - in process]
Efficacy of Er,Cr:YSGG laser with endodontical radial firing tips on the outcome of endodontic treatment: blind randomized controlled clinical trial with six-month evaluation.
Martins MR, Carvalho MF, Vaz IP, Capelas JA, Martins MA, Gutknecht N.
Lasers Med Sci. 2012 Aug 7. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID:
22869158
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Infective endocarditis complicated by aortic graft infection and osteomyelitis: case report and review of literature.
Zouein E, Wetz R, Mobarakai N, Hassan S, Tong I.
Int J Gen Med. 2012;5:563-8. Epub 2012 Jul 5.
PMID:
22866008
[PubMed - in process]
Free PMC Article
Gallium tribromide catalyzed coupling reaction of alkenyl ethers with ketene silyl acetals.
Nishimoto Y, Ueda H, Yasuda M, Baba A.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2012 Aug 6;51(32):8073-6. doi: 10.1002/anie.201203778. Epub 2012 Jul 2.
PMID:
22865567
[PubMed - in process] |
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