Mercury selenide
Chemical compound
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mercury selenide (HgSe; sometimes mercury(II) selenide) is a chemical compound of mercury and selenium. It is a grey-black crystalline solid semi-metal with a sphalerite structure. The lattice constant is 0.608 nm.
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| Names | |
|---|---|
| IUPAC name
Mercury selenide | |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) |
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| ChemSpider | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.039.903 |
| EC Number |
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PubChem CID |
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CompTox Dashboard (EPA) |
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| Properties | |
| HgSe | |
| Molar mass | 279.55 g/mol |
| Appearance | grey-black solid |
| Odor | odorless |
| Density | 8.266 g/cm3 |
| Melting point | 1,000 °C; 1,830 °F; 1,270 K |
| insoluble | |
| Structure | |
| sphalerite | |
| Thermochemistry | |
Heat capacity (C) |
178 J kg−1 K−1 |
Std enthalpy of formation (ΔfH⦵298) |
247 kJ/mol |
| Hazards | |
| GHS labelling:[1] | |
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| Danger | |
| H300, H310, H330, H373, H410 | |
| P260, P262, P264, P270, P271, P273, P280, P284, P301+P310, P302+P350, P304+P340, P310, P314, P320, P321, P330, P361, P363, P391, P403+P233, P405, P501 | |
| NFPA 704 (fire diamond) | |
| Flash point | Non-flammable |
| Related compounds | |
Other anions |
Mercury oxide Mercury sulfide Mercury telluride |
Other cations |
Zinc selenide Cadmium selenide |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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HgSe occurs naturally as the mineral Tiemannite, and is a component of the "intimate mixture" of HgSe and Se known as HgSe2.[2]
Along with other II-VI compounds, colloidal nanocrystals of HgSe can be formed.
Applications
- Selenium is used in filters in some steel plants to remove mercury from exhaust gases. The solid product formed is HgSe.
- HgSe can be used as an ohmic contact to wide-gap II-VI semiconductors such as zinc selenide or zinc oxide.
Toxicity
Toxic hydrogen selenide fumes can be evolved on exposure to acids. HgSe is non-toxic as long as it is not ingested due to its insolubility.
HgSe is forms large insoluble clusters with proteins during digestion, and a very precise co-administration of selenium during mercury ingestion has shown to reduce the resulting intoxication. The effect is too finicky for any practical use, but selenium's ability to complex mercury has been proposed to explain why relatively high mercury levels do not intoxicate deep-sea fish.[3]