Gallium, 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 nanopowdersprovide 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.
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of gallium and each of its naturally occurringisotopes 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 |
| Typical Human Body | Universe | |
| by Weight | no data | 10 ppb |
| by Atom | no data | 0.2 ppb |
| 1st Ionization Energy | 578.85 kJ mol-1 |
| 2nd Ionization Energy | 1979.33 kJ mol-1 |
| 3rd Ionization Energy | 2963.09 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Fusion | 5.59 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Vaporization | 270.3 kJ mol-1 |
| Heat of Atomization | 276 kJ mol-1 |
