Product
al
Home > Product list > S

Sulfur

Sulfur n, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its High Purity propertiesresearch, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure,ionization energyabundance on Earthconductivity and thermal properties are included.

Sulfur is a crucial element for all life and serves as both fuels and respiratory (oxygen-replacing) materials for simple organisms.  In nature, sulfur can be found in hot springs, meteorites, volcanoes, and as galena, gypsum, Epsom salts, and barite. Sulfur, when organically bonded, is a component of all proteins, as the amino acids methionine and cysteine. In organic form, Sulfur is present in the vitamins thiamine and biotin. Sulfur is also a vital part of many enzymes and also in antioxidant molecules like glutathione and thioredoxin.Sulfur is available as compounds with purities from 99% to 99.9999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity). Sulfur facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties areavailable 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. Carbon is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured assolutions at specified stoichiometries. 

Sulfur is a Block P, Group 16, Period 3 element. The number of electrons in each of Sulfur‘s shells is 2, 8, 6 and its electronic configuration is [Ne]3s2 3p4. In its elemental form sulfur‘s CAS number is 7704-34-9. The sulfur atom has a radius of 100pm and it‘s Van der Waals radius is 180pm. 

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) isotopesOrgano-MetallicCarbon compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. SeeAnalytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis. 

Sulfur has been known since ancient times but was not accepted as an element until 1777. Antoine Lavoisier helped to convince the scientific commuity that sulfus is an element and not a compound.

Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of sulfur and each of its naturally occurringisotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope.
Isotope Atomic Mass % Abundance on Earth
S-32 31.97207070 94393
S-33 32.97145843 0.76
S-34 33.96786665 4.29
S-36 35.96708062 0.02


The following table shows the abundance of Sulfur 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 2000000 ppb 500000 ppb
by Atom 390000 ppb 20000 ppb


Safety Data and Biological Role. The safety data for sulfur metalnanoparticles 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. Carboncompounds play a key biological role in all life and is present by definition in all organic compounds. 

Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for sulfur (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 999.6 kJ mol-1
2nd Ionization Energy 2251 kJ mol-1
3rd Ionization Energy 3360.6 kJ mol-1


Conductivity. As to sulfur‘s electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ?C is 2×1015 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 2.58. The thermal conductivity of carbon is 0.205W m-1 K-1. 

Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for sulfur are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization.
Heat of Fusion 1.7175 kJ mol-1
Heat of Vaporization 9.8 kJ mol-1
Heat of Atomization 279 kJ mol-1



Formula Atomic Number Molecular Weight Electronegativity (Pauling) Density Melting Point Boiling Point Vanderwaals radius Ionic radius Energy of first ionization
S 16 32.065 (5) g.mol-1 2.58 2 g.cm-3 at 20 °C 115.2°C 444.7°C 180.pm 30 (+6e) 184 (-2e) 999.0 kJ.mol-1