Mercury selenide

In today's article, we are going to delve into the fascinating world of Mercury selenide. Whether you are an expert on the subject or are looking for information for the first time, this article is designed to provide you with a broad overview of Mercury selenide. We will explore its origins, its impact on today's society, and take a look at its future. No matter what your level of knowledge about Mercury selenide is, we hope this article is an interesting and enriching read for all our readers.

Mercury(II) selenide
Mercury(II) selenide unit cell
Mercury(II) selenide unit cell
Names
IUPAC name
Mercury selenide
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.039.903 Edit this at Wikidata
EC Number
  • 243-910-5
  • InChI=1S/Hg.Se
    Key: YQMLDSWXEQOSPP-UHFFFAOYSA-N
  • InChI=1S/Hg.Se
  • =
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
178 J kg−1 K−1
247 kJ/mol
Hazards
GHS labelling:[1]
GHS06: ToxicGHS08: Health hazardGHS09: Environmental hazard
Danger
H300, H310, H330, H373, H410
P260, P262, P264, P270, P271, P273, P280, P284, P301+P310, P302+P350, P304+P340, P310, P314, P320, P321, P322, P330, P361, P363, P391, P403+P233, P405, P501
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)
NFPA 704 four-colored diamondHealth 3: Short exposure could cause serious temporary or residual injury. E.g. chlorine gasFlammability 0: Will not burn. E.g. waterInstability 1: Normally stable, but can become unstable at elevated temperatures and pressures. E.g. calciumSpecial hazards (white): no code
3
0
1
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 , 100 kPa).
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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.

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]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mercury selenide (HgSe)". pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  2. ^ Park, Chang-Woo; Smith, Donna M.; Pell, Michael A.; Ibers, James A. (1997). "Different Products from the Chemical and Electrochemical Reduction of 'HgSe2': 2 and 2·en". Inorg. Chem. 36 (5): 942–943. doi:10.1021/ic960786v.
  3. ^ Watanabe, C. (2002). "Modification of Mercury Toxicity by Selenium: Practical Importance?". The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine. 196 (2): 71–77. doi:10.1620/tjem.196.71. PMID 12498318.