Metalloid

{{short description|Chemical element with metallic and nonmetallic properties}}

{{Periodic table (metalloid)}}

{{Sidebar periodic table|expanded=metalicity}}

A metalloid is a chemical element which has a preponderance of properties in between, or that are a mixture of, those of metals and nonmetals. The word metalloid comes from the Latin metallum ("metal") and the Greek oeides ("resembling in form or appearance").Oxford English Dictionary 1989, 'metalloid'; Gordh, Gordh & Headrick 2003, p. 753 There is no standard definition of a metalloid and no complete agreement on which elements are metalloids. Despite the lack of specificity, the term remains in use in the literature.

The six commonly recognised metalloids are boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony and tellurium. Five elements are less frequently so classified: carbon, aluminium, selenium, polonium and astatine. On a standard periodic table, all eleven elements are in a diagonal region of the p-block extending from boron at the upper left to astatine at lower right. Some periodic tables include a dividing line between metals and nonmetals, and the metalloids may be found close to this line.

Typical metalloids have a metallic appearance, may be brittle and are only fair conductors of electricity. They can form alloys with metals, and many of their other physical properties and chemical properties are intermediate between those of metallic and nonmetallic elements. They and their compounds are used in alloys, biological agents, catalysts, flame retardants, glasses, optical storage and optoelectronics, pyrotechnics, semiconductors, and electronics.

The term metalloid originally referred to nonmetals. Its more recent meaning, as a category of elements with intermediate or hybrid properties, became widespread in 1940–1960. Metalloids are sometimes called semimetals, a practice that has been discouraged, as the term semimetal has a more common usage as a specific kind of electronic band structure of a substance. In this context, only arsenic and antimony are semimetals, and commonly recognised as metalloids.

Definitions

{{See also|Lists of metalloids}}

=Judgment-based=

A metalloid is an element that possesses a preponderance of properties in between, or that are a mixture of, those of metals and nonmetals, and which is therefore hard to classify as either a metal or a nonmetal. This is a generic definition that draws on metalloid attributes consistently cited in the literature.{{refn|1=Definitions and extracts by different authors, illustrating aspects of the generic definition, follow:

  • "In chemistry a metalloid is an element with properties intermediate between those of metals and nonmetals."Cusack 1987, p. 360
  • "Between the metals and nonmetals in the periodic table we find elements ... [that] share some of the characteristic properties of both the metals and nonmetals, making it difficult to place them in either of these two main categories"Kelter, Mosher & Scott 2009, p. 268
  • "Chemists sometimes use the name metalloid ... for these elements which are difficult to classify one way or the other."Hill & Holman 2000, p. 41
  • "Because the traits distinguishing metals and nonmetals are qualitative in nature, some elements do not fall unambiguously in either category. These elements ... are called metalloids ..."King 1979, p. 13

More broadly, metalloids have been referred to as:

On halogen character, see also Belpassi et al.,Belpassi et al. 2006, pp. 4543–44 who conclude that in the aurides MAu (M = Li–Cs) gold "behaves as a halogen, intermediate between Br and I"; on aurophilicity, see also Schmidbaur and Schier.Schmidbaur & Schier 2008, pp. 1931–51|group=n}} Only the elements at or near the margins, lacking a sufficiently clear preponderance of either metallic or nonmetallic properties, are classified as metalloids.Tyler Miller 1987, p. 59

Boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, and tellurium are commonly recognised as metalloids.Goldsmith 1982, p. 526; Kotz, Treichel & Weaver 2009, p. 62; Bettelheim et al. 2010, p. 46{{refn|1=Mann et al. refer to these elements as "the recognized metalloids".|group=n}} Depending on the author, one or more from selenium, polonium, or astatine are sometimes added to the list.Hawkes 2001, p. 1686; Segal 1989, p. 965; McMurray & Fay 2009, p. 767 Boron sometimes is excluded, by itself, or with silicon.Bucat 1983, p. 26; Brown c. 2007 Sometimes tellurium is not regarded as a metalloid.Swift & Schaefer 1962, p. 100 The inclusion of antimony, polonium, and astatine as metalloids has been questioned.Hawkes 2001, p. 1686; Hawkes 2010; Holt, Rinehart & Wilson c. 2007

Other elements are occasionally classified as metalloids. These elements includeDunstan 1968, pp. 310, 409. Dunstan lists Be, Al, Ge (maybe), As, Se (maybe), Sn, Sb, Te, Pb, Bi, and Po as metalloids (pp. 310, 323, 409, 419). hydrogen,Tilden 1876, pp. 172, 198–201; Smith 1994, p. 252; Bodner & Pardue 1993, p. 354 beryllium,Bassett et al. 1966, p. 127 nitrogen,Rausch 1960 phosphorus,Thayer 1977, p. 604; Warren & Geballe 1981; Masters & Ela 2008, p. 190 sulfur,Warren & Geballe 1981; Chalmers 1959, p. 72; US Bureau of Naval Personnel 1965, p. 26 zinc,Siebring 1967, p. 513 gallium,Wiberg 2001, p. 282 tin, iodine,Rausch 1960; Friend 1953, p. 68 lead,Murray 1928, p. 1295 bismuth, and radon.Hampel & Hawley 1966, p. 950; Stein 1985; Stein 1987, pp. 240, 247–48 The term metalloid has also been used for elements that exhibit metallic lustre and electrical conductivity, and that are amphoteric, such as arsenic, antimony, vanadium, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, tin, lead, and aluminium.Hatcher 1949, p. 223; Secrist & Powers 1966, p. 459 The p-block metals,Taylor 1960, p. 614 and nonmetals (such as carbon or nitrogen) that can form alloys with metalsConsidine & Considine 1984, p. 568; Cegielski 1998, p. 147; The American heritage science dictionary 2005, p. 397 or modify their propertiesWoodward 1948, p. 1 have also occasionally been considered as metalloids.

=Criteria-based=

class="wikitable floatright" style="width: 75px;"
Element

! IE
(kcal/mol)

! IE
(kJ/mol)

! EN

! nowrap|Band structure

Boron

| style="text-align:center;"| 191

| style="text-align:center;"| 801

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| 2.04

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| semiconductor

Silicon

| style="text-align:center;"| 188

| style="text-align:center;"| 787

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| 1.90

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| semiconductor

Germanium

| style="text-align:center;"| 182

| style="text-align:center;"| 762

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| 2.01

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| semiconductor

Arsenic

| style="text-align:center;"| 226

| style="text-align:center;"| 944

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| 2.18

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| semimetal

Antimony

| style="text-align:center;"| 199

| style="text-align:center;"| 831

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| 2.05

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| semimetal

Tellurium

| style="text-align:center;"| 208

| style="text-align:center;"| 869

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| 2.10

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| semiconductor

style="text-align: right"| average

| style="text-align:center;"| 199

| style="text-align:center;"| 832

|style="padding-left:1em; padding-right:1em;"| 2.05

|

colspan="5" style="text-align: left; font-size: 90%" |The elements commonly recognised as metalloids, and their ionization energies (IE);NIST 2010. Values shown in the above table have been converted from the NIST values, which are given in eV. electronegativities (EN, revised Pauling scale); and electronic band structuresBerger 1997; Lovett 1977, p. 3 (most thermodynamically stable forms under ambient conditions).

No widely accepted definition of a metalloid exists, nor any division of the periodic table into metals, metalloids, and nonmetals;Goldsmith 1982, p. 526; Hawkes 2001, p. 1686 HawkesHawkes 2001, p. 1687 questioned the feasibility of establishing a specific definition, noting that anomalies can be found in several attempted constructs. Classifying an element as a metalloid has been described by SharpSharp 1981, p. 299 as "arbitrary".

The number and identities of metalloids depend on what classification criteria are used. EmsleyEmsley 1971, p. 1 recognised four metalloids (germanium, arsenic, antimony, and tellurium); James et al.James et al. 2000, p. 480 listed twelve (Emsley's plus boron, carbon, silicon, selenium, bismuth, polonium, moscovium, and livermorium). On average, seven elements are included in such lists; individual classification arrangements tend to share common ground and vary in the ill-definedChatt 1951, p. 417 "The boundary between metals and metalloids is indefinite ..."; Burrows et al. 2009, p. 1192: "Although the elements are conveniently described as metals, metalloids, and nonmetals, the transitions are not exact ..." margins.{{refn|1=JonesJones 2010, p. 170 writes: "Though classification is an essential feature in all branches of science, there are always hard cases at the boundaries. Indeed, the boundary of a class is rarely sharp."|group=n}}{{refn|1=The lack of a standard division of the elements into metals, metalloids, and nonmetals is not necessarily an issue. There is more or less, a continuous progression from the metallic to the nonmetallic. A specified subset of this continuum could serve its particular purpose as well as any other.Kneen, Rogers & Simpson 1972, pp. 218–20|group=n}}

A single quantitative criterion such as electronegativity is commonly used,Rochow 1966, pp. 1, 4–7 metalloids having electronegativity values from 1.8 or 1.9 to 2.2.Rochow 1977, p. 76; Mann et al. 2000, p. 2783 Further examples include packing efficiency (the fraction of volume in a crystal structure occupied by atoms) and the Goldhammer–Herzfeld criterion ratio.Askeland, Phulé & Wright 2011, p. 69 The commonly recognised metalloids have packing efficiencies of between 34% and 41%.{{refn|1=The packing efficiency of boron is 38%; silicon and germanium 34; arsenic 38.5; antimony 41; and tellurium 36.4.Van Setten et al. 2007, pp. 2460–61; Russell & Lee 2005, p. 7 (Si, Ge); Pearson 1972, p. 264 (As, Sb, Te; also black P) These values are lower than in most metals (80% of which have a packing efficiency of at least 68%),Russell & Lee 2005, p. 1 but higher than those of elements usually classified as nonmetals. (Gallium is unusual, for a metal, in having a packing efficiency of just 39%.)Russell & Lee 2005, pp. 6–7, 387 Other notable values for metals are 42.9 for bismuthPearson 1972, p. 264 and 58.5 for liquid mercury.Okajima & Shomoji 1972, p. 258) Packing efficiencies for nonmetals are: graphite 17%,Kitaĭgorodskiĭ 1961, p. 108 sulfur 19.2,Neuburger 1936 iodine 23.9, selenium 24.2, and black phosphorus 28.5.|group=n}} The Goldhammer–Herzfeld ratio, roughly equal to the cube of the atomic radius divided by the molar volume,Edwards & Sienko 1983, p. 693{{refn|1=More specifically, the Goldhammer–Herzfeld criterion is the ratio of the force holding an individual atom's valence electrons in place with the forces on the same electrons from interactions between the atoms in the solid or liquid element. When the interatomic forces are greater than, or equal to, the atomic force, valence electron itinerancy is indicated and metallic behaviour is predicted.Herzfeld 1927; Edwards 2000, pp. 100–03 Otherwise nonmetallic behaviour is anticipated.|group=n}} is a simple measure of how metallic an element is, the recognised metalloids having ratios from around 0.85 to 1.1 and averaging 1.0.Edwards & Sienko 1983, p. 695; Edwards et al. 2010{{refn|1=As the ratio is based on classical argumentsEdwards 1999, p. 416 it does not accommodate the finding that polonium, which has a value of ~0.95, adopts a metallic (rather than covalent) crystalline structure, on relativistic grounds.Steurer 2007, p. 142; Pyykkö 2012, p. 56 Even so it offers a first order rationalization for the occurrence of metallic character amongst the elements.Edwards & Sienko 1983, p. 695|group=n}}

Other authors have relied on, for example, atomic conductance{{refn|1=Atomic conductance is the electrical conductivity of one mole of a substance. It is equal to electrical conductivity divided by molar volume.|group=n}}Hill & Holman 2000, p. 160. They characterise metalloids (in part) on the basis that they are "poor conductors of electricity with atomic conductance usually less than 10−3 but greater than 10−5 ohm−1 cm−4". or bulk coordination number.Bond 2005, p. 3: "One criterion for distinguishing semi-metals from true metals under normal conditions is that the bulk coordination number of the former is never greater than eight, while for metals it is usually twelve (or more, if for the body-centred cubic structure one counts next-nearest neighbours as well)."

Jones, writing on the role of classification in science, observed that "[classes] are usually defined by more than two attributes".Jones 2010, p. 169 Masterton and SlowinskiMasterton & Slowinski 1977, p. 160 list B, Si, Ge, As, Sb, and Te as metalloids, and comment that Po and At are ordinarily classified as metalloids but add that this is arbitrary as so little is known about them. used three criteria to describe the six elements commonly recognised as metalloids: metalloids have ionization energies around 200 kcal/mol (837 kJ/mol) and electronegativity values close to 2.0. They also said that metalloids are typically semiconductors, though antimony and arsenic (semimetals from a physics perspective) have electrical conductivities approaching those of metals. Selenium and polonium are suspected as not in this scheme, while astatine's status is uncertain.{{refn|1=Selenium has an ionization energy (IE) of 225 kcal/mol (941 kJ/mol) and is sometimes described as a semiconductor. It has a relatively high 2.55 electronegativity (EN). Polonium has an IE of 194 kcal/mol (812 kJ/mol) and a 2.0 EN, but has a metallic band structure.Kraig, Roundy & Cohen 2004, p. 412; Alloul 2010, p. 83 Astatine has an IE of 215 kJ/mol (899 kJ/mol) and an EN of 2.2.Vernon 2013, p. 1704 Its electronic band structure is not known with any certainty.|group=n}}

In this context, Vernon proposed that a metalloid is a chemical element that, in its standard state, has (a) the electronic band structure of a semiconductor or a semimetal; and (b) an intermediate first ionization potential "(say 750−1,000 kJ/mol)"; and (c) an intermediate electronegativity (1.9–2.2).Vernon 2013, p. 1703

{{clear}}

Periodic table territory

cellspacing=0 cellpadding="1" style="float:right; text-align:center; border:1px solid grey; margin-left:1.2em; margin-bottom:1.2em; width:23.5em; {{{style
}};"

|-

! colspan=12 style="text-align:center; background:{{element color|table title}}" | Distribution and recognition status
of elements classified as metalloids

|-

|

| style="line-height:100%;" | 1

| 2

|

| 12

| 13

| 14

| 15

| 16

| 17

| 18

|

|-

|

|-

|

| style="width:2.5em; background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-top:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-bottom:2px solid grey" | H

| style="width:2.5em; border-bottom:2px solid grey" |

| style="width:1em;" |  

| style="width:2.5em" |

| style="width:2.5em; border-bottom:1px solid black" |

| style="width:2.5em; border-bottom:1px solid black" |

| style="width:2.5em; border-bottom:1px solid black" |

| style="width:2.5em; border-bottom:1px solid black" |

| style="width:2.5em; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black"| 

| style="width:2.5em; border-right:1px solid black; border-top:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | He

|

|-

|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-top:2px solid grey; border-left:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Li

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:2px solid grey; border-top:2px solid grey; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Be

| style="border-left:2px solid grey" |

| style="border-right:2px solid grey" |

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:2px solid grey; border-bottom:2px solid grey" | B

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | C

| style="background:#f0f8ff; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | N

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | O

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | F

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ne

|

|-

|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Na

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Mg

|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" |

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:2px solid grey; border-top:2px solid grey; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Al

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:2px solid grey; border-bottom:2px solid grey" | Si

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | P

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | S

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Cl

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ar

|

|-

|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | K

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ca

| style="border-right:1px solid black" |

| style="background:#f0f8ff; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Zn

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ga

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:2px solid grey; border-top:2px solid grey; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ge

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:2px solid grey; border-bottom:2px solid grey" | As

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Se

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Br

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Kr

|

|-

|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Rb

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Sr

| style="border-right:1px solid black" |

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Cd

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | In

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Sn

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:2px solid grey; border-top:2px solid grey; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Sb

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:2px solid grey; border-bottom:2px solid grey" | Te

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | I

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Xe

|

|-

|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Cs

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ba

| style="border-right:1px solid black"|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Hg

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Tl

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Pb

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Bi

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:2px solid grey; border-top:2px solid grey; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Po

| style="background:#dcdcdc; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:2px solid grey; border-bottom:2px solid grey" | At

| style="background:#f0f8ff; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Rn

|

|-

|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Fr

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ra

| style="border-right:1px solid black"|

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Cn

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Nh

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Fl

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Mc

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:1px solid black; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Lv

| style="background:#faebd7; border-right:2px solid grey; border-top:2px solid grey; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Ts

| style="border-right:1px solid black; border-left:2px solid grey; border-bottom:1px solid black" | Og

|

|-

|

| colspan="10" style="text-align:center; font-size:20%" | 

|

|- style="text-align:left; font-size:90%"

|

| colspan=10 style="padding-left:0.5em; background:#f8f8f8;" |

{{legend |#dcdcdc |Commonly (93%) to rarely (9%) recognised as a
metalloid: B, C, Al, Si, Ge, As, Se, Sb, Te, Po, At}}

{{legend |#faebd7 |Very rarely (1–5%): H, Be, P, S, Ga, Sn, I, Pb, Bi, Fl, Mc, Lv, Ts}}

{{legend |#f0f8ff |Sporadically: N, Zn, Rn}}

  Metal–nonmetal dividing line: between {{nowrap|H and Li}}, {{nowrap|Be and B}}, {{nowrap|Al and Si}}, {{nowrap|Ge and As}}, {{nowrap|Sb and Te}}, {{nowrap|Po and At}}, and {{nowrap|Ts and Og}}

|

|- style="text-align:left; padding-left:0.5em; padding-right:2px; font-size:90%"

| colspan="11" style="padding-left:0.5em; padding-right:2px"|

Periodic table extract showing groups 1–2 and 12–18, and a dividing line between metals and nonmetals. Percentages are median appearance frequencies in the list of metalloid lists. Sporadically recognised elements show that the metalloid net is sometimes cast very widely; although they do not appear in the list of metalloid lists, isolated references to their designation as metalloids can be found in the literature (as cited in this article).

|

|}

=Location=

Metalloids lie on either side of the dividing line between metals and nonmetals. This can be found, in varying configurations, on some periodic tables. Elements to the lower left of the line generally display increasing metallic behaviour; elements to the upper right display increasing nonmetallic behaviour. When presented as a regular stairstep, elements with the highest critical temperature for their groups (Li, Be, Al, Ge, Sb, Po) lie just below the line.Horvath 1973, p. 336

The diagonal positioning of the metalloids represents an exception to the observation that elements with similar properties tend to occur in vertical groups.Gray 2009, p. 9 A related effect can be seen in other diagonal similarities between some elements and their lower right neighbours, specifically lithium-magnesium, beryllium-aluminium, and boron-silicon. Rayner-CanhamRayner-Canham 2011 has argued that these similarities extend to carbon-phosphorus, nitrogen-sulfur, and into three d-block series.

This exception arises due to competing horizontal and vertical trends in the nuclear charge. Going along a period, the nuclear charge increases with atomic number as do the number of electrons. The additional pull on outer electrons as nuclear charge increases generally outweighs the screening effect of having more electrons. With some irregularities, atoms therefore become smaller, ionization energy increases, and there is a gradual change in character, across a period, from strongly metallic, to weakly metallic, to weakly nonmetallic, to strongly nonmetallic elements.Booth & Bloom 1972, p. 426; Cox 2004, pp. 17, 18, 27–28; Silberberg 2006, pp. 305–13 Going down a main group, the effect of increasing nuclear charge is generally outweighed by the effect of additional electrons being further away from the nucleus. Atoms generally become larger, ionization energy falls, and metallic character increases.Cox 2004, pp. 17–18, 27–28; Silberberg 2006, pp. 305–13 The net effect is that the location of the metal–nonmetal transition zone shifts to the right in going down a group, and analogous diagonal similarities are seen elsewhere in the periodic table, as noted.Rodgers 2011, pp. 232–33; 240–41

=Alternative treatments=

Elements bordering the metal–nonmetal dividing line are not always classified as metalloids, noting a binary classification can facilitate the establishment of rules for determining bond types between metals and nonmetals.Roher 2001, pp. 4–6 In such cases, the authors concerned focus on one or more attributes of interest to make their classification decisions, rather than being concerned about the marginal nature of the elements in question. Their considerations may or not be made explicit and may, at times, seem arbitrary.{{refn|Jones (2010, pp. 169–71): "Though classification is an essential feature of all branches of science, there are always hard cases at the boundaries. The boundary of a class is rarely sharp…Scientists should not lose sleep over the hard cases. As long as a classification system is beneficial to economy of description, to structuring knowledge and to our understanding, and hard cases constitute a small minority, then keep it. If the system becomes less than useful, then scrap it and replace it with a system based on different shared characteristics."|group=n}} Metalloids may be grouped with metals;Tyler 1948, p. 105; Reilly 2002, pp. 5–6 or regarded as nonmetals;Hampel & Hawley 1976, p. 174; or treated as a sub-category of nonmetals.Goodrich 1844, p. 264; The Chemical News 1897, p. 189; Hampel & Hawley 1976, p. 191; Lewis 1993, p. 835; Hérold 2006, pp. 149–50{{refn|1=OderbergOderberg 2007, p. 97 argues on ontological grounds that anything not a metal is therefore a nonmetal, and that this includes semi-metals (i.e. metalloids).|group=n}} Other authors have suggested classifying some elements as metalloids "emphasizes that properties change gradually rather than abruptly as one moves across or down the periodic table".Brown & Holme 2006, p. 57 Some periodic tables distinguish elements that are metalloids and display no formal dividing line between metals and nonmetals. Metalloids are instead shown as occurring in a diagonal bandWiberg 2001, p. 282; Simple Memory Art c. 2005 or diffuse region.Chedd 1969, pp. 12–13 The key consideration is to explain the context for the taxonomy in use.

Properties

Metalloids usually look like metals but behave largely like nonmetals. Physically, they are shiny, brittle solids with intermediate to relatively good electrical conductivity and the electronic band structure of a semimetal or semiconductor. Chemically, they mostly behave as (weak) nonmetals, have intermediate ionization energies and electronegativity values, and amphoteric or weakly acidic oxides. Most of their other physical and chemical properties are intermediate in nature.

=Compared to metals and nonmetals=

{{Main|Properties of metals, metalloids and nonmetals}}

Characteristic properties of metals, metalloids, and nonmetals are summarized in the table.Kneen, Rogers & Simpson, 1972, p. 263. Columns 2 and 4 are sourced from this reference unless otherwise indicated. Physical properties are listed in order of ease of determination; chemical properties run from general to specific, and then to descriptive.

class="wikitable"

|+Properties of metals, metalloids and nonmetals

valign=top

! scope="col" style="width:10em;" | Physical property

! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Metals

! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Metalloids

! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Nonmetals

valign=top

| scope="row"| Form

| solid; a few liquid at or near room temperature (Ga, Hg, Rb, Cs, Fr)Stoker 2010, p. 62; Chang 2002, p. 304. Chang speculates that the melting point of francium would be about 23 °C.{{refn|1=Copernicium is reportedly the only metal thought to be a gas at room temperature.New Scientist 1975; Soverna 2004; Eichler et al. 2007; Austen 2012|group=n}}

| solidRochow 1966, p. 4

| majority gaseousHunt 2000, p. 256

valign=top

| scope="row"| Appearance

| lustrous (at least when freshly fractured)

| lustrous

| several colourless; others coloured, or metallic grey to black

valign=top

| scope="row"| Plasticity

| typically elastic, ductile, malleable

| often brittleMcQuarrie & Rock 1987, p. 85

| often brittle

valign=top

| scope="row"| Electrical conductivity

| good to high{{refn|1=Metals have electrical conductivity values of from 6.9 × 103 S•cm−1 for manganese to 6.3 × 105 for silver.Desai, James & Ho 1984, p. 1160; Matula 1979, p. 1260|group=n}}

| intermediateChoppin & Johnsen 1972, p. 351 to good{{refn|1=Metalloids have electrical conductivity values of from 1.5 × 10−6 S•cm−1 for boron to 3.9 × 104 for arsenic.Schaefer 1968, p. 76; Carapella 1968, p. 30 If selenium is included as a metalloid the applicable conductivity range would start from ~10−9 to 10−12 S•cm−1.|group=n}}

| poor to good{{refn|1=Nonmetals have electrical conductivity values of from ~10−18 S•cm−1 for the elemental gases to 3 × 104 in graphite.Bogoroditskii & Pasynkov 1967, p. 77; Jenkins & Kawamura 1976, p. 88|group=n}}

valign=top

| scope="row"| Band structure

| metallic (Bi = semimetallic)

| are semiconductors or, if not (As, Sb = semimetallic), exist in semiconducting formsHampel & Hawley 1976, p. 191; Wulfsberg 2000, p. 620

| semiconductor or insulatorSwalin 1962, p. 216

valign=top

! scope="col" style="width:10em;" | Chemical property

! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Metals

! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Metalloids

! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Nonmetals

valign=top

| General chemical behaviour

| metallic

| nonmetallicBailar et al. 1989, p. 742

| nonmetallic

valign=top

| scope="row" |Ionization energy

| relatively low

| intermediate ionization energies,Metcalfe, Williams & Castka 1974, p. 86 usually falling between those of metals and nonmetalsChang 2002, p. 306

| relatively high

valign=top

| scope="row" |Electronegativity

| usually low

| have electronegativity values close to 2Pauling 1988, p. 183 (revised Pauling scale) or within the range of 1.9–2.2 (Allen scale)Mann et al. 2000, p. 2783{{refn|1=CheddChedd 1969, pp. 24–25 defines metalloids as having electronegativity values of 1.8 to 2.2 (Allred-Rochow scale). He included boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, tellurium, polonium, and astatine in this category. In reviewing Chedd's work, AdlerAdler 1969, pp. 18–19 described this choice as arbitrary, as other elements whose electronegativities lie in this range include copper, silver, phosphorus, mercury, and bismuth. He went on to suggest defining a metalloid as "a semiconductor or semimetal" and to include bismuth and selenium in this category.|group=n}}

| high

valign=top

| scope="row" |When mixed
with metals

| give alloys

| can form alloysHultgren 1966, p. 648; Young & Sessine 2000, p. 849; Bassett et al. 1966, p. 602

| ionic or interstitial compounds formed

valign=top

| scope="row" |Oxides

| lower oxides basic; higher oxides increasingly acidic

| amphoteric or weakly acidicRochow 1966, p. 4; Atkins et al. 2006, pp. 8, 122–23

| acidic

The above table reflects the hybrid nature of metalloids. The properties of form, appearance, and behaviour when mixed with metals are more like metals. Elasticity and general chemical behaviour are more like nonmetals. Electrical conductivity, band structure, ionization energy, electronegativity, and oxides are intermediate between the two.

Common applications

:The focus of this section is on the recognised metalloids. Elements less often recognised as metalloids are ordinarily classified as either metals or nonmetals; some of these are included here for comparative purposes.

Metalloids are too brittle to have any structural uses in their pure forms.Russell & Lee 2005, pp. 421, 423; Gray 2009, p. 23 They and their compounds are used in alloys, biological agents (toxicological, nutritional, and medicinal), catalysts, flame retardants, glasses (oxide and metallic), optical storage media and optoelectronics, pyrotechnics, semiconductors, and electronics.{{refn|1=Olmsted and WilliamsOlmsted & Williams 1997, p. 975 commented that, "Until quite recently, chemical interest in the metalloids consisted mainly of isolated curiosities, such as the poisonous nature of arsenic and the mildly therapeutic value of borax. With the development of metalloid semiconductors, however, these elements have become among the most intensely studied".|group=n}}

=Alloys=

File:Copper germanium.jpg pellets, likely ~84% Cu; 16% Ge. When combined with silver the result is a tarnish resistant sterling silver. Also shown are two silver pellets.|alt=Several dozen metallic pellets, reddish-brown. They have a highly polished appearance, as if they had a cellophane coating.]]

Writing early in the history of intermetallic compounds, the British metallurgist Cecil Desch observed that "certain non-metallic elements are capable of forming compounds of distinctly metallic character with metals, and these elements may therefore enter into the composition of alloys". He associated silicon, arsenic, and tellurium, in particular, with the alloy-forming elements.Desch 1914, p. 86 Phillips and WilliamsPhillips & Williams 1965, p. 620 suggested that compounds of silicon, germanium, arsenic, and antimony with B metals, "are probably best classed as alloys".

Among the lighter metalloids, alloys with transition metals are well-represented. Boron can form intermetallic compounds and alloys with such metals of the composition MnB, if n > 2.Van der Put 1998, p. 123 Ferroboron (15% boron) is used to introduce boron into steel; nickel-boron alloys are ingredients in welding alloys and case hardening compositions for the engineering industry. Alloys of silicon with iron and with aluminium are widely used by the steel and automotive industries, respectively. Germanium forms many alloys, most importantly with the coinage metals.Klug & Brasted 1958, p. 199

The heavier metalloids continue the theme. Arsenic can form alloys with metals, including platinum and copper;Good et al. 1813 it is also added to copper and its alloys to improve corrosion resistanceSequeira 2011, p. 776 and appears to confer the same benefit when added to magnesium.Gary 2013 Antimony is well known as an alloy-former, including with the coinage metals. Its alloys include pewter (a tin alloy with up to 20% antimony) and type metal (a lead alloy with up to 25% antimony).Russell & Lee 2005, pp. 405–06; 423–34 Tellurium readily alloys with iron, as ferrotellurium (50–58% tellurium), and with copper, in the form of copper tellurium (40–50% tellurium).Davidson & Lakin 1973, p. 627 Ferrotellurium is used as a stabilizer for carbon in steel casting.Wiberg 2001, p. 589 Of the non-metallic elements less often recognised as metalloids, selenium – in the form of ferroselenium (50–58% selenium) – is used to improve the machinability of stainless steels.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 749; Schwartz 2002, p. 679

=Biological agents=

File:Arsenic trioxide.jpg or white arsenic, one of the most toxic and prevalent forms of arsenic. The antileukaemic properties of white arsenic were first reported in 1878.Antman 2001|alt=A clear glass dish on which is a small mound of a white crystalline powder.]] All six of the elements commonly recognised as metalloids have toxic, dietary or medicinal properties.Řezanka & Sigler 2008; Sekhon 2012 Arsenic and antimony compounds are especially toxic; boron, silicon, and possibly arsenic, are essential trace elements. Boron, silicon, arsenic, and antimony have medical applications, and germanium and tellurium are thought to have potential.

Boron is used in insecticidesEmsley 2001, p. 67 and herbicides.Zhang et al. 2008, p. 360 It is an essential trace element.Science Learning Hub 2009 As boric acid, it has antiseptic, antifungal, and antiviral properties.Skinner et al. 1979; Tom, Elden & Marsh 2004, p. 135

Silicon is present in silatrane, a highly toxic rodenticide.Büchel 1983, p. 226 Long-term inhalation of silica dust causes silicosis, a fatal disease of the lungs. Silicon is an essential trace element. Silicone gel can be applied to badly burned patients to reduce scarring.Emsley 2001, p. 391

Salts of germanium are potentially harmful to humans and animals if ingested on a prolonged basis.Schauss 1991; Tao & Bolger 1997 There is interest in the pharmacological actions of germanium compounds but no licensed medicine as yet.Eagleson 1994, p. 450; EVM 2003, pp. 197‒202

Arsenic is notoriously poisonous and may also be an essential element in ultratrace amounts.Nielsen 1998 During World War I, both sides used "arsenic-based sneezing and vomiting agents…to force enemy soldiers to remove their gas masks before firing mustard or phosgene at them in a second salvo."MacKenzie 2015, p. 36 It has been used as a pharmaceutical agent since antiquity, including for the treatment of syphilis before the development of antibiotics.Jaouen & Gibaud 2010 Arsenic is also a component of melarsoprol, a medicinal drug used in the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness. In 2003, arsenic trioxide (under the trade name Trisenox) was re-introduced for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Arsenic in drinking water, which causes lung and bladder cancer, has been associated with a reduction in breast cancer mortality rates.Smith et al. 2014

Metallic antimony is relatively non-toxic, but most antimony compounds are poisonous.Stevens & Klarner, p. 205

Two antimony compounds, sodium stibogluconate and stibophen, are used as antiparasitical drugs.Sneader 2005, pp. 57–59

Elemental tellurium is not considered particularly toxic; two grams of sodium tellurate, if administered, can be lethal.Keall, Martin and Tunbridge 1946 People exposed to small amounts of airborne tellurium exude a foul and persistent garlic-like odour.Emsley 2001, p. 426 Tellurium dioxide has been used to treat seborrhoeic dermatitis; other tellurium compounds were used as antimicrobial agents before the development of antibiotics.Oldfield et al. 1974, p. 65; Turner 2011 In the future, such compounds may need to be substituted for antibiotics that have become ineffective due to bacterial resistance.Ba et al. 2010; Daniel-Hoffmann, Sredni & Nitzan 2012; Molina-Quiroz et al. 2012

Of the elements less often recognised as metalloids, beryllium and lead are noted for their toxicity; lead arsenate has been extensively used as an insecticide.Peryea 1998 Sulfur is one of the oldest of the fungicides and pesticides. Phosphorus, sulfur, zinc, selenium, and iodine are essential nutrients, and aluminium, tin, and lead may be. Sulfur, gallium, selenium, iodine, and bismuth have medicinal applications. Sulfur is a constituent of sulfonamide drugs, still widely used for conditions such as acne and urinary tract infections.Hager 2006, p. 299 Gallium nitrate is used to treat the side effects of cancer;Apseloff 1999 gallium citrate, a radiopharmaceutical, facilitates imaging of inflamed body areas.Trivedi, Yung & Katz 2013, p. 209 Selenium sulfide is used in medicinal shampoos and to treat skin infections such as tinea versicolor.Emsley 2001, p. 382; Burkhart, Burkhart & Morrell 2011 Iodine is used as a disinfectant in various forms. Bismuth is an ingredient in some antibacterials.Thomas, Bialek & Hensel 2013, p. 1

=Catalysts=

Boron trifluoride and trichloride are used as homogeneous catalysts in organic synthesis and electronics; the tribromide is used in the manufacture of diborane.Perry 2011, p. 74 Non-toxic boron ligands could replace toxic phosphorus ligands in some transition metal catalysts.UCR Today 2011; Wang & Robinson 2011; Kinjo et al. 2011 Silica sulfuric acid (SiO2OSO3H) is used in organic reactions.Kauthale et al. 2015 Germanium dioxide is sometimes used as a catalyst in the production of PET plastic for containers;Gunn 2014, pp. 188, 191 cheaper antimony compounds, such as the trioxide or triacetate, are more commonly employed for the same purposeGupta, Mukherjee & Cameotra 1997, p. 280; Thomas & Visakh 2012, p. 99 despite concerns about antimony contamination of food and drinks.Muncke 2013 Arsenic trioxide has been used in the production of natural gas, to boost the removal of carbon dioxide, as have selenous acid and tellurous acid.Mokhatab & Poe 2012, p. 271 Selenium acts as a catalyst in some microorganisms.Craig, Eng & Jenkins 2003, p. 25 Tellurium, its dioxide, and its tetrachloride are strong catalysts for air oxidation of carbon above 500 °C.McKee 1984 Graphite oxide can be used as a catalyst in the synthesis of imines and their derivatives.Hai et al. 2012 Activated carbon and alumina have been used as catalysts for the removal of sulfur contaminants from natural gas.Kohl & Nielsen 1997, pp. 699–700 Titanium doped aluminium has been suggested as a substitute for noble metal catalysts used in the production of industrial chemicals.Chopra et al. 2011

=Flame retardants=

Compounds of boron, silicon, arsenic, and antimony have been used as flame retardants. Boron, in the form of borax, has been used as a textile flame retardant since at least the 18th century.Le Bras, Wilkie & Bourbigot 2005, p. v Silicon compounds such as silicones, silanes, silsesquioxane, silica, and silicates, some of which were developed as alternatives to more toxic halogenated products, can considerably improve the flame retardancy of plastic materials.Wilkie & Morgan 2009, p. 187

Arsenic compounds such as sodium arsenite or sodium arsenate are effective flame retardants for wood but have been less frequently used due to their toxicity.Locke et al. 1956, p. 88 Antimony trioxide is a flame retardant.Carlin 2011, p. 6.2 Aluminium hydroxide has been used as a wood-fibre, rubber, plastic, and textile flame retardant since the 1890s.Evans 1993, pp. 257–28 Apart from aluminium hydroxide, use of phosphorus based flame-retardants – in the form of, for example, organophosphates – now exceeds that of any of the other main retardant types. These employ boron, antimony, or halogenated hydrocarbon compounds.Corbridge 2013, p. 1149

=Glass formation=

File:Fibreoptic4.jpg, usually made of pure silicon dioxide glass, with additives such as boron trioxide or germanium dioxide for increased sensitivity|alt=A bunch of pale yellow semi-transparent thin strands, with bright points of white light at their tips.]]

The oxides B2O3, SiO2, GeO2, As2O3, and Sb2O3 readily form glasses. TeO2 forms a glass but this requires a "heroic quench rate" or the addition of an impurity; otherwise the crystalline form results.Kaminow & Li 2002, p. 118 These compounds are used in chemical, domestic, and industrial glasswareDeming 1925, pp. 330 (As2O3), 418 (B2O3; SiO2; Sb2O3); Witt & Gatos 1968, p. 242 (GeO2) and optics.Eagleson 1994, p. 421 (GeO2); Rothenberg 1976, 56, 118–19 (TeO2) Boron trioxide is used as a glass fibre additive,Geckeler 1987, p. 20 and is also a component of borosilicate glass, widely used for laboratory glassware and domestic ovenware for its low thermal expansion.Kreith & Goswami 2005, pp. 12–109 Most ordinary glassware is made from silicon dioxide.Russell & Lee 2005, p. 397 Germanium dioxide is used as a glass fibre additive, as well as in infrared optical systems.Butterman & Jorgenson 2005, pp. 9–10 Arsenic trioxide is used in the glass industry as a decolourizing and fining agent (for the removal of bubbles),Shelby 2005, p. 43 as is antimony trioxide.Butterman & Carlin 2004, p. 22; Russell & Lee 2005, p. 422 Tellurium dioxide finds application in laser and nonlinear optics.Träger 2007, pp. 438, 958; Eranna 2011, p. 98

Amorphous metallic glasses are generally most easily prepared if one of the components is a metalloid or "near metalloid" such as boron, carbon, silicon, phosphorus or germanium.Rao 2002, p. 552; Löffler, Kündig & Dalla Torre 2007, p. 17–11{{refn|1=Research published in 2012 suggests that metal-metalloid glasses can be characterised by an interconnected atomic packing scheme in which metallic and covalent bonding structures coexist.Guan et al. 2012; WPI-AIM 2012|group=n}} Aside from thin films deposited at very low temperatures, the first known metallic glass was an alloy of composition Au75Si25 reported in 1960.Klement, Willens & Duwez 1960; Wanga, Dongb & Shek 2004, p. 45 A metallic glass having a strength and toughness not previously seen, of composition Pd82.5P6Si9.5Ge2, was reported in 2011.Demetriou et al. 2011; Oliwenstein 2011

Phosphorus, selenium, and lead, which are less often recognised as metalloids, are also used in glasses. Phosphate glass has a substrate of phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5), rather than the silica (SiO2) of conventional silicate glasses. It is used, for example, to make sodium lamps.Karabulut et al. 2001, p. 15; Haynes 2012, pp. 4–26 Selenium compounds can be used both as decolourising agents and to add a red colour to glass.Schwartz 2002, pp. 679–80 Decorative glassware made of traditional lead glass contains at least 30% lead(II) oxide (PbO); lead glass used for radiation shielding may have up to 65% PbO.Carter & Norton 2013, p. 403 Lead-based glasses have also been extensively used in electronic components, enamelling, sealing and glazing materials, and solar cells. Bismuth based oxide glasses have emerged as a less toxic replacement for lead in many of these applications.Maeder 2013, pp. 3, 9–11

=Optical storage and optoelectronics=

Varying compositions of GeSbTe ("GST alloys") and Ag- and In- doped Sb2Te ("AIST alloys"), being examples of phase-change materials, are widely used in rewritable optical discs and phase-change memory devices. By applying heat, they can be switched between amorphous (glassy) and crystalline states. The change in optical and electrical properties can be used for information storage purposes.Tominaga 2006, pp. 327–28; Chung 2010, pp. 285–86; Kolobov & Tominaga 2012, p. 149 Future applications for GeSbTe may include, "ultrafast, entirely solid-state displays with nanometre-scale pixels, semi-transparent 'smart' glasses, 'smart' contact lenses, and artificial retina devices."New Scientist 2014; Hosseini, Wright & Bhaskaran 2014; Farandos et al. 2014

=Pyrotechnics=

File:Blue Light.JPG, fuelled by a mixture of sodium nitrate, sulfur, and (red) arsenic trisulfideOrdnance Office 1863, p. 293|alt=A man is standing in the dark. He is holding out a short stick at mid-chest level. The end of the stick is alight, burning very brightly, and emitting smoke.]]

The recognised metalloids have either pyrotechnic applications or associated properties. Boron and silicon are commonly encountered;Kosanke 2002, p. 110 they act somewhat like metal fuels.Ellern 1968, pp. 246, 326–27 Boron is used in pyrotechnic initiator compositions (for igniting other hard-to-start compositions), and in delay compositions that burn at a constant rate.Conkling & Mocella 2010, p. 82 Boron carbide has been identified as a possible replacement for more toxic barium or hexachloroethane mixtures in smoke munitions, signal flares, and fireworks.Crow 2011; Mainiero 2014 Silicon, like boron, is a component of initiator and delay mixtures. Doped germanium can act as a variable speed thermite fuel.{{refn|1=The reaction involved is Ge + 2 MoO3 → GeO2 + 2 MoO2. Adding arsenic or antimony (n-type electron donors) increases the rate of reaction; adding gallium or indium (p-type electron acceptors) decreases it.Schwab & Gerlach 1967; Yetter 2012, p. 81; Lipscomb 1972, pp. 2–3, 5–6, 15|group=n}} Arsenic trisulfide As2S3 was used in old naval signal lights; in fireworks to make white stars;Ellern 1968, p. 135; Weingart 1947, p. 9 in yellow smoke screen mixtures; and in initiator compositions.Conkling & Mocella 2010, p. 83 Antimony trisulfide Sb2S3 is found in white-light fireworks and in flash and sound mixtures.Conkling & Mocella 2010, pp. 181, 213 Tellurium has been used in delay mixtures and in blasting cap initiator compositions.Ellern 1968, pp. 209–10, 322

Carbon, aluminium, phosphorus, and selenium continue the theme. Carbon, in black powder, is a constituent of fireworks rocket propellants, bursting charges, and effects mixtures, and military delay fuses and igniters.Russell 2009, pp. 15, 17, 41, 79–80{{refn|1=Ellern, writing in Military and Civilian Pyrotechnics (1968), comments that carbon black "has been specified for and used in a nuclear air-burst simulator."Ellern 1968, p. 324|group=n}} Aluminium is a common pyrotechnic ingredient, and is widely employed for its capacity to generate light and heat,Ellern 1968, p. 328 including in thermite mixtures.Conkling & Mocella 2010, p. 171 Phosphorus can be found in smoke and incendiary munitions, paper caps used in toy guns, and party poppers.Conkling & Mocella 2011, pp. 83–84 Selenium has been used in the same way as tellurium.

=Semiconductors and electronics=

File:Semiconductor-1.jpg-based electronic components. From left to right: a transistor, an integrated circuit, and an LED. The elements commonly recognised as metalloids find widespread use in such devices, as elemental or compound semiconductor constituents (Si, Ge or GaAs, for example) or as doping agents (B, Sb, Te, for example).|alt=A small square plastic piece with three parallel wire protrusions on one side; a larger rectangular plastic chip with multiple plastic and metal pin-like legs; and a small red light globe with two long wires coming out of its base.]]

All the elements commonly recognised as metalloids (or their compounds) have been used in the semiconductor or solid-state electronic industries.Berger 1997, p. 91; Hampel 1968, passim

Some properties of boron have limited its use as a semiconductor. It has a high melting point, single crystals are relatively hard to obtain, and introducing and retaining controlled impurities is difficult.Rochow 1966, p. 41; Berger 1997, pp. 42–43

Silicon is the leading commercial semiconductor; it forms the basis of modern electronics (including standard solar cells)Bomgardner 2013, p. 20 and information and communication technologies.Russell & Lee 2005, p. 395; Brown et al. 2009, p. 489 This was despite the study of semiconductors, early in the 20th century, having been regarded as the "physics of dirt" and not deserving of close attention.Haller 2006, p. 4: "The study and understanding of the physics of semiconductors progressed slowly in the 19th and early 20th centuries ... Impurities and defects ... could not be controlled to the degree necessary to obtain reproducible results. This led influential physicists, including W. Pauli and I. Rabi, to comment derogatorily on the 'Physics of Dirt'."; Hoddeson 2007, pp. 25–34 (29)

Germanium has largely been replaced by silicon in semiconducting devices, being cheaper, more resilient at higher operating temperatures, and easier to work during the microelectronic fabrication process.Russell & Lee 2005, p. 401; Büchel, Moretto & Woditsch 2003, p. 278 Germanium is still a constituent of semiconducting silicon-germanium "alloys" and these have been growing in use, particularly for wireless communication devices; such alloys exploit the higher carrier mobility of germanium. The synthesis of gram-scale quantities of semiconducting germanane was reported in 2013. This consists of one-atom thick sheets of hydrogen-terminated germanium atoms, analogous to graphane. It conducts electrons more than ten times faster than silicon and five times faster than germanium, and is thought to have potential for optoelectronic and sensing applications.Bianco et al. 2013 The development of a germanium-wire based anode that more than doubles the capacity of lithium-ion batteries was reported in 2014.University of Limerick 2014; Kennedy et al. 2014 In the same year, Lee et al. reported that defect-free crystals of graphene large enough to have electronic uses could be grown on, and removed from, a germanium substrate.Lee et al. 2014

Arsenic and antimony are not semiconductors in their standard states. Both form type III-V semiconductors (such as GaAs, AlSb or GaInAsSb) in which the average number of valence electrons per atom is the same as that of Group 14 elements, but they have direct band gaps. These compounds are preferred for optical applications.Russell & Lee 2005, pp. 421–22, 424 Antimony nanocrystals may enable lithium-ion batteries to be replaced by more powerful sodium ion batteries.He et al. 2014

Tellurium, which is a semiconductor in its standard state, is used mainly as a component in type II/VI semiconducting-chalcogenides; these have applications in electro-optics and electronics.Berger 1997, p. 91 Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is used in solar modules for its high conversion efficiency, low manufacturing costs, and large band gap of 1.44 eV, letting it absorb a wide range of wavelengths. Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3), alloyed with selenium and antimony, is a component of thermoelectric devices used for refrigeration or portable power generation.ScienceDaily 2012

Five metalloids – boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, and antimony – can be found in cell phones (along with at least 39 other metals and nonmetals).Reardon 2005; Meskers, Hagelüken & Van Damme 2009, p. 1131 Tellurium is expected to find such use.The Economist 2012 Of the less often recognised metalloids, phosphorus, gallium (in particular) and selenium have semiconductor applications. Phosphorus is used in trace amounts as a dopant for n-type semiconductors.Whitten 2007, p. 488 The commercial use of gallium compounds is dominated by semiconductor applications – in integrated circuits, cell phones, laser diodes, light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, and solar cells.Jaskula 2013 Selenium is used in the production of solar cellsGerman Energy Society 2008, pp. 43–44 and in high-energy surge protectors.Patel 2012, p. 248

Boron, silicon, germanium, antimony, and tellurium,Moore 2104; University of Utah 2014; Xu et al. 2014 as well as heavier metals and metalloids such as Sm, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, and Se,Yang et al. 2012, p. 614 can be found in topological insulators. These are alloysMoore 2010, p. 195 or compounds which, at ultracold temperatures or room temperature (depending on their composition), are metallic conductors on their surfaces but insulators through their interiors.Moore 2011 Cadmium arsenide Cd3As2, at about 1 K, is a Dirac-semimetal – a bulk electronic analogue of graphene – in which electrons travel effectively as massless particles.Liu 2014 These two classes of material are thought to have potential quantum computing applications.Bradley 2014; University of Utah 2014

{{clear}}

Nomenclature and history

=Derivation and other names=

Several names are sometimes used synonymously although some of these have other meanings that are not necessarily interchangeable: amphoteric element,Foster 1936, pp. 212–13; Brownlee et al. 1943, p. 293 boundary element,Calderazzo, Ercoli & Natta 1968, p. 257 half-way element,Walters 1982, pp. 32–33 near metal,Tyler 1948, p. 105 meta-metal,Foster & Wrigley 1958, p. 218: "The elements may be grouped into two classes: those that are metals and those that are nonmetals. There is also an intermediate group known variously as metalloids, meta-metals, semiconductors." semiconductor,Slade 2006, p. 16 semimetalCorwin 2005, p. 80 and submetal.Barsanov & Ginzburg 1974, p. 330 "Amphoteric element" is sometimes used more broadly to include transition metals capable of forming oxyanions, such as chromium and manganese.Bradbury et al. 1957, pp. 157, 659 "Meta-metal" is sometimes used instead to refer to certain metals (Be, Zn, Cd, Hg, In, Tl, β-Sn, Pb) located just to the left of the metalloids on standard periodic tables.Klemm 1950, pp. 133–42; Reilly 2004, p. 4 These metals tend to have distorted crystalline structures, electrical conductivity values at the lower end of those of metals, and amphoteric (weakly basic) oxides.King 2004, pp. 196–98; Ferro & Saccone 2008, p. 233 The names amphoteric element and semiconductor are problematic as some elements referred to as metalloids do not show marked amphoteric behaviour (bismuth, for example)Lister 1965, p. 54 or semiconductivity (polonium) in their most stable forms.

=Origin and usage=

{{Main|Origin and use of the term metalloid}}

The origin and usage of the term metalloid is convoluted. The name was popularized by Jöns Berzelius in the early 19th century, but he did not use it in the current meaning, but rather for a diverse group of nonmetal elements.{{cite book | last=Kragh | first=Emeritus Professor of History of Science Niels Bohr Institute Helge | title=The Names of Science | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=Oxford | date=2024-10-04 | isbn=978-0-19-891745-8 | pages=225–226}} James Apjohn's "Manual of Metalloids" published in 1864 divided all elements into either metals or metalloids.Apjohn, J. (1864). Manual of the Metalloids. United Kingdom: Longman.{{rp|31}} Since the mid-20th century it has been used to refer to intermediate or borderline chemical elements.Goldsmith 1982, p. 526 The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) previously recommended abandoning the term metalloid, and suggested using the term semimetal instead.Friend 1953, p. 68; IUPAC 1959, p. 10; IUPAC 1971, p. 11 Despite the recommendation, the term metalloid was increasingly used in the literature in 1970{{endash}}2010, while semimetal remained less popular. Use of the term semimetal has more recently been discouraged by Atkins et al.Atkins et al. 2010, p. 20 as it has a more common meaning that refers to the electronic band structure of a substance rather than the overall classification of an element. The most recent IUPAC publications on nomenclature and terminology do not include any recommendations on the usage of the terms metalloid or semimetal.IUPAC 2005; IUPAC 2006–

Elements commonly recognised as metalloids

:Properties noted in this section refer to the elements in their most thermodynamically stable forms under ambient conditions.

=Boron=

{{Main|Boron}}

File:Boron R105.jpg phase (its most thermodynamically stable allotrope)Van Setten et al. 2007, pp. 2460–61; Oganov et al. 2009, pp. 863–64|alt=Several dozen small angular stone like shapes, grey with scattered silver flecks and highlights.]] Pure boron is a shiny, silver-grey crystalline solid.Housecroft & Sharpe 2008, p. 331; Oganov 2010, p. 212 It is less dense than aluminium (2.34 vs. 2.70 g/cm3), and is hard and brittle. It is barely reactive under normal conditions, except for attack by fluorine,Housecroft & Sharpe 2008, p. 333 and has a melting point of 2076 °C (cf. steel ~1370 °C).Kross 2011 Boron is a semiconductor;Berger 1997, p. 37 its room temperature electrical conductivity is 1.5 × 10−6 S•cm−1Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 144 (about 200 times less than that of tap water)Kopp, Lipták & Eren 2003, p. 221 and it has a band gap of about 1.56 eV.Prudenziati 1977, p. 242{{refn|1=Boron, at 1.56 eV, has the largest band gap amongst the commonly recognised (semiconducting) metalloids. Of nearby elements in periodic table terms, selenium has the next highest band gap (close to 1.8 eV) followed by white phosphorus (around 2.1 eV).Berger 1997, pp. 84, 87|group=n}} Mendeleev commented that, "Boron appears in a free state in several forms which are intermediate between the metals and the nonmmetals."Mendeléeff 1897, p. 57

The structural chemistry of boron is dominated by its small atomic size, and relatively high ionization energy. With only three valence electrons per boron atom, simple covalent bonding cannot fulfil the octet rule.Rayner-Canham & Overton 2006, p. 291 Metallic bonding is the usual result among the heavier congenors of boron but this generally requires low ionization energies.Siekierski & Burgess 2002, p. 63 Instead, because of its small size and high ionization energies, the basic structural unit of boron (and nearly all of its allotropes){{refn|1=The synthesis of B40 borospherene, a "distorted fullerene with a hexagonal hole on the top and bottom and four heptagonal holes around the waist" was announced in 2014.Wogan 2014|group=n}} is the icosahedral B12 cluster. Of the 36 electrons associated with 12 boron atoms, 26 reside in 13 delocalized molecular orbitals; the other 10 electrons are used to form two- and three-centre covalent bonds between icosahedra.Siekierski & Burgess 2002, p. 86 The same motif can be seen, as are deltahedral variants or fragments, in metal borides and hydride derivatives, and in some halides.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 141; Henderson 2000, p. 58; Housecroft & Sharpe 2008, pp. 360–72

The bonding in boron has been described as being characteristic of behaviour intermediate between metals and nonmetallic covalent network solids (such as diamond).Parry et al. 1970, pp. 438, 448–51 The energy required to transform B, C, N, Si, and P from nonmetallic to metallic states has been estimated as 30, 100, 240, 33, and 50 kJ/mol, respectively. This indicates the proximity of boron to the metal-nonmetal borderline.Fehlner 1990, p. 202

Most of the chemistry of boron is nonmetallic in nature. Unlike its heavier congeners, it is not known to form a simple B3+ or hydrated [B(H2O)4]3+ cation.Owen & Brooker 1991, p. 59; Wiberg 2001, p. 936 The small size of the boron atom enables the preparation of many interstitial alloy-type borides.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 145 Analogies between boron and transition metals have been noted in the formation of complexes,Houghton 1979, p. 59 and adducts (for example, BH3 + CO →BH3CO and, similarly, Fe(CO)4 + CO →Fe(CO)5),{{refn|1=The BH3 and Fe(CO4) species in these reactions are short-lived reaction intermediates.Fehlner 1990, p. 205|group=n}} as well as in the geometric and electronic structures of cluster species such as [B6H6]2− and [Ru6(CO)18]2−.Fehlner 1990, pp. 204–05, 207{{refn|1=On the analogy between boron and metals, GreenwoodGreenwood 2001, p. 2057 commented that: "The extent to which metallic elements mimic boron (in having fewer electrons than orbitals available for bonding) has been a fruitful cohering concept in the development of metalloborane chemistry ... Indeed, metals have been referred to as "honorary boron atoms" or even as "flexiboron atoms". The converse of this relationship is clearly also valid ..."|group=n}} The aqueous chemistry of boron is characterised by the formation of many different polyborate anions.Salentine 1987, pp. 128–32; MacKay, MacKay & Henderson 2002, pp. 439–40; Kneen, Rogers & Simpson 1972, p. 394; Hiller & Herber 1960, inside front cover; p. 225 Given its high charge-to-size ratio, boron bonds covalently in nearly all of its compounds;Sharp 1983, p. 56 the exceptions are the borides as these include, depending on their composition, covalent, ionic, and metallic bonding components.Fokwa 2014, p. 10{{refn|1=The bonding in boron trifluoride, a gas, has been referred to as predominately ionicGillespie 1998 a description which was subsequently described as misleading.Haaland et al. 2000|group=n}} Simple binary compounds, such as boron trichloride are Lewis acids as the formation of three covalent bonds leaves a hole in the octet which can be filled by an electron-pair donated by a Lewis base. Boron has a strong affinity for oxygen and a duly extensive borate chemistry. The oxide B2O3 is polymeric in structure,Puddephatt & Monaghan 1989, p. 59 weakly acidic,Mahan 1965, p. 485{{refn|1=Boron trioxide B2O3 is sometimes described as being (weakly) amphoteric.Danaith 2008, p. 81. It reacts with alkalies to give various borates.Lidin 1996, p. 28 In its hydrated form (as H3BO3, boric acid) it reacts with sulfur trioxide, the anhydride of sulfuric acid, to form a bisulfate B(HSO3) 4.Kondrat'ev & Mel'nikova 1978 In its pure (anhydrous) form it reacts with phosphoric acid to form a "phosphate" BPO4.Holderness & Berry 1979, p. 111; Wiberg 2001, p. 980 The latter compound may be regarded as a mixed oxide of B2O3 and P2O5.Toy 1975, p. 506|group=n}} and a glass former.Rao 2002, p. 22 Organometallic compounds of boron{{refn|1=Organic derivatives of metalloids are traditionally counted as organometallic compounds.Fehlner 1992, p. 1|group=n}} have been known since the 19th century (see organoboron chemistry).Haiduc & Zuckerman 1985, p. 82

=Silicon=

{{Main|Silicon}}

File:SiliconCroda.jpg has a blue-grey metallic lustre.|alt=A lustrous blue grey potato-shaped lump with an irregular corrugated surface.]]

Silicon is a crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 331 Like boron, it is less dense (at 2.33 g/cm3) than aluminium, and is hard and brittle.Wiberg 2001, p. 824 It is a relatively unreactive element. According to Rochow,Rochow 1973, pp. 1337‒38 the massive crystalline form (especially if pure) is "remarkably inert to all acids, including hydrofluoric".{{refn|1=In air, silicon forms a thin coating of amorphous silicon dioxide, 2 to 3 nm thick. This coating is dissolved by hydrogen fluoride at a very low pace – on the order of two to three hours per nanometre.Zhang 2002, p. 70 Silicon dioxide, and silicate glasses (of which silicon dioxide is a major component), are otherwise readily attacked by hydrofluoric acid.Sacks 1998, p. 287|group=n}} Less pure silicon, and the powdered form, are variously susceptible to attack by strong or heated acids, as well as by steam and fluorine.Rochow 1973, pp. 1337, 1340 Silicon dissolves in hot aqueous alkalis with the evolution of hydrogen, as do metalsAllen & Ordway 1968, p. 152 such as beryllium, aluminium, zinc, gallium or indium.Eagleson 1994, pp. 48, 127, 438, 1194; Massey 2000, p. 191 It melts at 1414 °C. Silicon is a semiconductor with an electrical conductivity of 10−4 S•cm−1Orton 2004, p. 7. This is a typical value for high-purity silicon. and a band gap of about 1.11 eV.Russell & Lee 2005, p. 393 When it melts, silicon becomes a reasonable metalColes & Caplin 1976, p. 106 with an electrical conductivity of 1.0–1.3 × 104 S•cm−1, similar to that of liquid mercury.Glazov, Chizhevskaya & Glagoleva 1969, pp. 59–63; Allen & Broughton 1987, p. 4967

The chemistry of silicon is generally nonmetallic (covalent) in nature.Cotton, Wilkinson & Gaus 1995, p. 393 It is not known to form a cation.Wiberg 2001, p. 834{{refn|1=The bonding in silicon tetrafluoride, a gas, has been referred to as predominately ionic a description which was subsequently described as misleading.|group=n}} Silicon can form alloys with metals such as iron and copper.Partington 1944, p. 723 It shows fewer tendencies to anionic behaviour than ordinary nonmetals.Cox 2004, p. 27 Its solution chemistry is characterised by the formation of oxyanions.Hiller & Herber 1960, inside front cover; p. 225 The high strength of the silicon–oxygen bond dominates the chemical behaviour of silicon.Kneen, Rogers and Simpson 1972, p. 384 Polymeric silicates, built up by tetrahedral SiO4 units sharing their oxygen atoms, are the most abundant and important compounds of silicon. The polymeric borates, comprising linked trigonal and tetrahedral BO3 or BO4 units, are built on similar structural principles.Cotton, Wilkinson & Gaus 1995, pp. 319, 321 The oxide SiO2 is polymeric in structure, weakly acidic,Smith 1990, p. 175{{refn|1=Although SiO2 is classified as an acidic oxide, and hence reacts with alkalis to give silicates, it reacts with phosphoric acid to yield a silicon oxide orthophosphate Si5O(PO4)6,Poojary, Borade & Clearfield 1993 and with hydrofluoric acid to give hexafluorosilicic acid H2SiF6.Wiberg 2001, pp. 851, 858 The latter reaction "is sometimes quoted as evidence of basic [that is, metallic] properties".Barmett & Wilson 1959, p. 332|group=n}} and a glass former. Traditional organometallic chemistry includes the carbon compounds of silicon (see organosilicon).Powell 1988, p. 1

=Germanium=

{{Main|Germanium}}

File:Polycrystalline-germanium.jpg is sometimes described as a metal|alt=Greyish lustrous block with uneven cleaved surface.]]

Germanium is a shiny grey-white solid.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 371 It has a density of 5.323 g/cm3 and is hard and brittle.Cusack 1967, p. 193 It is mostly unreactive at room temperature{{refn|1=Temperatures above 400 °C are required to form a noticeable surface oxide layer.Russell & Lee 2005, pp. 399–400|group=n}} but is slowly attacked by hot concentrated sulfuric or nitric acid.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 373 Germanium also reacts with molten caustic soda to yield sodium germanate Na2GeO3 and hydrogen gas.Moody 1991, p. 273 It melts at 938 °C. Germanium is a semiconductor with an electrical conductivity of around 2 × 10−2 S•cm−1 and a band gap of 0.67 eV.Russell & Lee 2005, p. 399 Liquid germanium is a metallic conductor, with an electrical conductivity similar to that of liquid mercury.Berger 1997, pp. 71–72

Most of the chemistry of germanium is characteristic of a nonmetal.Jolly 1966, pp. 125–6 Whether or not germanium forms a cation is unclear, aside from the reported existence of the Ge2+ ion in a few esoteric compounds.{{refn|1=Sources mentioning germanium cations include: Powell & BrewerPowell & Brewer 1938 who state that the cadmium iodide CdI2 structure of germanous iodide GeI2 establishes the existence of the Ge++ ion (the CdI2 structure being found, according to Ladd,Ladd 1999, p. 55 in "many metallic halides, hydroxides, and chalcides"); EverestEverest 1953, p. 4120 who comments that, "it seems probable that the Ge++ ion can also occur in other crystalline germanous salts such as the phosphite, which is similar to the salt-like stannous phosphite and germanous phosphate, which resembles not only the stannous phosphates, but the manganous phosphates also"; Pan, Fu & HuangPan, Fu and Huang 1964, p. 182 who presume the formation of the simple Ge++ ion when Ge(OH)2 is dissolved in a perchloric acid solution, on the basis that, "ClO4 has little tendency to enter complex formation with a cation"; Monconduit et al.Monconduit et al. 1992 who prepared the layer compound or phase Nb3GexTe6 (x ≃ 0.9), and reported that this contained a GeII cation; RichensRichens 1997, p. 152 who records that, "Ge2+ (aq) or possibly Ge(OH)+(aq) is said to exist in dilute air-free aqueous suspensions of the yellow hydrous monoxide…however both are unstable with respect to the ready formation of GeO2.nH2O"; Rupar et al.Rupar et al. 2008 who synthesized a cryptand compound containing a Ge2+ cation; and Schwietzer and PesterfieldSchwietzer & Pesterfield 2010, p. 190 who write that, "the monoxide GeO dissolves in dilute acids to give Ge+2 and in dilute bases to produce GeO2−2, all three entities being unstable in water". Sources dismissing germanium cations or further qualifying their presumed existence include: Jolly and LatimerJolly & Latimer 1951, p. 2 who assert that, "the germanous ion cannot be studied directly because no germanium (II) species exists in any appreciable concentration in noncomplexing aqueous solutions"; LidinLidin 1996, p. 140 who says that, "[germanium] forms no aquacations"; LaddLadd 1999, p. 56 who notes that the CdI2 structure is "intermediate in type between ionic and molecular compounds"; and WibergWiberg 2001, p. 896 who states that, "no germanium cations are known".|group=n}} It can form alloys with metals such as aluminium and gold.Schwartz 2002, p. 269 It shows fewer tendencies to anionic behaviour than ordinary nonmetals. Its solution chemistry is characterised by the formation of oxyanions. Germanium generally forms tetravalent (IV) compounds, and it can also form less stable divalent (II) compounds, in which it behaves more like a metal.Eggins 1972, p. 66; Wiberg 2001, p. 895 Germanium analogues of all of the major types of silicates have been prepared.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 383 The metallic character of germanium is also suggested by the formation of various oxoacid salts. A phosphate [(HPO4)2Ge·H2O] and highly stable trifluoroacetate Ge(OCOCF3)4 have been described, as have Ge2(SO4)2, Ge(ClO4)4 and GeH2(C2O4)3.Glockling 1969, p. 38; Wells 1984, p. 1175 The oxide GeO2 is polymeric, amphoteric,Cooper 1968, pp. 28–29 and a glass former. The dioxide is soluble in acidic solutions (the monoxide GeO, is even more so), and this is sometimes used to classify germanium as a metal.Steele 1966, pp. 178, 188–89 Up to the 1930s germanium was considered to be a poorly conducting metal;Haller 2006, p. 3 it has occasionally been classified as a metal by later writers.See, for example, Walker & Tarn 1990, p. 590 As with all the elements commonly recognised as metalloids, germanium has an established organometallic chemistry (see Organogermanium chemistry).Wiberg 2001, p. 742

=Arsenic=

{{Main|Arsenic}}

File:Arsen 1a.jpg, sealed in a container to prevent tarnishing|alt=Two dull silver clusters of crystalline shards.]]

Arsenic is a grey, metallic looking solid. It has a density of 5.727 g/cm3 and is brittle, and moderately hard (more than aluminium; less than iron).Gray, Whitby & Mann 2011 It is stable in dry air but develops a golden bronze patina in moist air, which blackens on further exposure. Arsenic is attacked by nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid. It reacts with fused caustic soda to give the arsenate Na3AsO3 and hydrogen gas.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 552 Arsenic sublimes at 615 °C. The vapour is lemon-yellow and smells like garlic.Parkes & Mellor 1943, p. 740 Arsenic only melts under a pressure of 38.6 atm, at 817 °C.Russell & Lee 2005, p. 420 It is a semimetal with an electrical conductivity of around 3.9 × 104 S•cm−1Carapella 1968, p. 30 and a band overlap of 0.5 eV.Barfuß et al. 1981, p. 967{{refn|1=Arsenic also exists as a naturally occurring (but rare) allotrope (arsenolamprite), a crystalline semiconductor with a band gap of around 0.3 eV or 0.4 eV. It can also be prepared in a semiconducting amorphous form, with a band gap of around 1.2–1.4 eV.Greaves, Knights & Davis 1974, p. 369; Madelung 2004, pp. 405, 410|group=n}} Liquid arsenic is a semiconductor with a band gap of 0.15 eV.Bailar & Trotman-Dickenson 1973, p. 558; Li 1990

The chemistry of arsenic is predominately nonmetallic.Bailar, Moeller & Kleinberg 1965, p. 477 Whether or not arsenic forms a cation is unclear.{{refn|1=Sources mentioning cationic arsenic include: Gillespie & RobinsonGillespie & Robinson 1963, p. 450 who find that, "in very dilute solutions in 100% sulphuric acid, arsenic (III) oxide forms arsonyl (III) hydrogen sulphate, AsO.HO4, which is partly ionized to give the AsO+ cation. Both these species probably exist mainly in solvated forms, e.g., As(OH)(SO4H)2, and As(OH)(SO4H)+ respectively"; Paul et al.Paul et al. 1971; see also Ahmeda & Rucka 2011, pp. 2893–94 who reported spectroscopic evidence for the presence of As42+ and As22+ cations when arsenic was oxidized with peroxydisulfuryl difluoride S2O6F2 in highly acidic media (Gillespie and PassmoreGillespie & Passmore 1972, p. 478 noted the spectra of these species were very similar to S42+ and S82+ and concluded that, "at present" there was no reliable evidence for any homopolycations of arsenic); Van Muylder and Pourbaix,Van Muylder & Pourbaix 1974, p. 521 who write that, "As2O3 is an amphoteric oxide which dissolves in water and in solutions of pH between 1 and 8 with the formation of undissociated arsenious acid HAsO2; the solubility…increases at pH's below 1 with the formation of 'arsenyl' ions AsO+…"; Kolthoff and ElvingKolthoff & Elving 1978, p. 210 who write that, "the As3+ cation exists to some extent only in strongly acid solutions; under less acid conditions the tendency is toward hydrolysis, so that the anionic form predominates"; MoodyMoody 1991, pp. 248–49 who observes that, "arsenic trioxide, As4O6, and arsenious acid, H3AsO3, are apparently amphoteric but no cations, As3+, As(OH)2+ or As(OH)2+ are known"; and Cotton et al.Cotton & Wilkinson 1999, pp. 396, 419 who write that (in aqueous solution) the simple arsenic cation As3+ "may occur to some slight extent [along with the AsO+ cation]" and that, "Raman spectra show that in acid solutions of As4O6 the only detectable species is the pyramidal As(OH)3".|group=n}} Its many metal alloys are mostly brittle.Eagleson 1994, p. 91 It shows fewer tendencies to anionic behaviour than ordinary nonmetals. Its solution chemistry is characterised by the formation of oxyanions. Arsenic generally forms compounds in which it has an oxidation state of +3 or +5.Massey 2000, p. 267 The halides, and the oxides and their derivatives are illustrative examples.Bailar, Moeller & Kleinberg 1965, p. 513 In the trivalent state, arsenic shows some incipient metallic properties.Timm 1944, p. 454 The halides are hydrolysed by water but these reactions, particularly those of the chloride, are reversible with the addition of a hydrohalic acid.Partington 1944, p. 641; Kleinberg, Argersinger & Griswold 1960, p. 419 The oxide is acidic but, as noted below, (weakly) amphoteric. The higher, less stable, pentavalent state has strongly acidic (nonmetallic) properties.Morgan 1906, p. 163; Moeller 1954, p. 559 Compared to phosphorus, the stronger metallic character of arsenic is indicated by the formation of oxoacid salts such as AsPO4, As2(SO4)3{{refn|1=The formulae of AsPO4 and As2(SO4)3 suggest straightforward ionic formulations, with As3+, but this is not the case. AsPO4, "which is virtually a covalent oxide", has been referred to as a double oxide, of the form As2O3·P2O5. It consists of AsO3 pyramids and PO4 tetrahedra, joined together by all their corner atoms to form a continuous polymeric network.Corbridge 2013, pp. 122, 215 As2(SO4)3 has a structure in which each SO4 tetrahedron is bridged by two AsO3 trigonal pyramida.Douglade 1982|group=n}} and arsenic acetate As(CH3COO)3.Zingaro 1994, p. 197; Emeléus & Sharpe 1959, p. 418; Addison & Sowerby 1972, p. 209; Mellor 1964, p. 337 The oxide As2O3 is polymeric, amphoteric,Pourbaix 1974, p. 521; Eagleson 1994, p. 92; Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 572{{refn|1=As2O3 is usually regarded as being amphoteric but a few sources say it is (weakly)Wiberg 2001, pp. 750, 975; Silberberg 2006, p. 314 acidic. They describe its "basic" properties (its reaction with concentrated hydrochloric acid to form arsenic trichloride) as being alcoholic, in analogy with the formation of covalent alkyl chlorides by covalent alcohols (e.g., R-OH + HCl RCl + H2O)Sidgwick 1950, p. 784; Moody 1991, pp. 248–9, 319|group=n}} and a glass former. Arsenic has an extensive organometallic chemistry (see Organoarsenic chemistry).Krannich & Watkins 2006

=Antimony=

{{Main|Antimony}}

File:Antimony-4.jpg, showing its brilliant lustre|alt=A glistening silver rock-like chunk, with a blue tint, and roughly parallel furrows.]]

Antimony is a silver-white solid with a blue tint and a brilliant lustre. It has a density of 6.697 g/cm3 and is brittle, and moderately hard (more so than arsenic; less so than iron; about the same as copper). It is stable in air and moisture at room temperature. It is attacked by concentrated nitric acid, yielding the hydrated pentoxide Sb2O5. Aqua regia gives the pentachloride SbCl5 and hot concentrated sulfuric acid results in the sulfate Sb2(SO4)3.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 553 It is not affected by molten alkali.Dunstan 1968, p. 433 Antimony is capable of displacing hydrogen from water, when heated: 2 Sb + 3 H2O → Sb2O3 + 3 H2.Parise 1996, p. 112 It melts at 631 °C. Antimony is a semimetal with an electrical conductivity of around 3.1 × 104 S•cm−1Carapella 1968a, p. 23 and a band overlap of 0.16 eV.{{refn|1=Antimony can also be prepared in an amorphous semiconducting black form, with an estimated (temperature-dependent) band gap of 0.06–0.18 eV.Moss 1952, pp. 174, 179|group=n}} Liquid antimony is a metallic conductor with an electrical conductivity of around 5.3 × 104 S•cm−1.Dupree, Kirby & Freyland 1982, p. 604; Mhiaoui, Sar, & Gasser 2003

Most of the chemistry of antimony is characteristic of a nonmetal.Kotz, Treichel & Weaver 2009, p. 62 Antimony has some definite cationic chemistry,Cotton et al. 1999, p. 396 SbO+ and Sb(OH)2+ being present in acidic aqueous solution;King 1994, p. 174{{refn|1=LidinLidin 1996, p. 372 asserts that SbO+ does not exist and that the stable form of Sb(III) in aqueous solution is an incomplete hydrocomplex [Sb(H2O)4(OH)2]+.|group=n}} the compound Sb8(GaCl4)2, which contains the homopolycation, Sb82+, was prepared in 2004.Lindsjö, Fischer & Kloo 2004 It can form alloys with one or more metals such as aluminium,Friend 1953, p. 87 iron, nickel, copper, zinc, tin, lead, and bismuth.Fesquet 1872, pp. 109–14 Antimony has fewer tendencies to anionic behaviour than ordinary nonmetals. Its solution chemistry is characterised by the formation of oxyanions. Like arsenic, antimony generally forms compounds in which it has an oxidation state of +3 or +5. The halides, and the oxides and their derivatives are illustrative examples. The +5 state is less stable than the +3, but relatively easier to attain than with arsenic. This is explained by the poor shielding afforded the arsenic nucleus by its 3d10 electrons. In comparison, the tendency of antimony (being a heavier atom) to oxidize more easily partially offsets the effect of its 4d10 shell.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 553; Massey 2000, p. 269 Tripositive antimony is amphoteric; pentapositive antimony is (predominately) acidic.King 1994, p. 171 Consistent with an increase in metallic character down group 15, antimony forms salts including an acetate Sb(CH3CO2)3, phosphate SbPO4, sulfate Sb2(SO4)3 and perchlorate Sb(ClO4)3.Turova 2011, p. 46 The otherwise acidic pentoxide Sb2O5 shows some basic (metallic) behaviour in that it can be dissolved in very acidic solutions, with the formation of the oxycation SbO{{su|b=2|p=+}}.Pourbaix 1974, p. 530 The oxide Sb2O3 is polymeric, amphoteric,Wiberg 2001, p. 764 and a glass former. Antimony has an extensive organometallic chemistry (see Organoantimony chemistry).House 2008, p. 497

=Tellurium=

{{Main|Tellurium}}

File:Tellurium2.jpg, described by Dmitri Mendeleev as forming a transition between metals and nonmetalsMendeléeff 1897, p. 274|alt=A shiny silver-white medallion with a striated surface, irregular around the outside, with a square spiral-like pattern in the middle.]]

Tellurium is a silvery-white shiny solid.Emsley 2001, p. 428 It has a density of 6.24 g/cm3, is brittle, and is the softest of the commonly recognised metalloids, being marginally harder than sulfur. Large pieces of tellurium are stable in air. The finely powdered form is oxidized by air in the presence of moisture. Tellurium reacts with boiling water, or when freshly precipitated even at 50 °C, to give the dioxide and hydrogen: Te + 2 H2O → TeO2 + 2 H2.Kudryavtsev 1974, p. 78 It reacts (to varying degrees) with nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric acids to give compounds such as the sulfoxide TeSO3 or tellurous acid H2TeO3,Bagnall 1966, pp. 32–33, 59, 137 the basic nitrate (Te2O4H)+(NO3),Swink et al. 1966; Anderson et al. 1980 or the oxide sulfate Te2O3(SO4).Ahmed, Fjellvåg & Kjekshus 2000 It dissolves in boiling alkalis, to give the tellurite and telluride: 3 Te + 6 KOH = K2TeO3 + 2 K2Te + 3 H2O, a reaction that proceeds or is reversible with increasing or decreasing temperature.Chizhikov & Shchastlivyi 1970, p. 28

At higher temperatures tellurium is sufficiently plastic to extrude.Kudryavtsev 1974, p. 77 It melts at 449.51 °C. Crystalline tellurium has a structure consisting of parallel infinite spiral chains. The bonding between adjacent atoms in a chain is covalent, but there is evidence of a weak metallic interaction between the neighbouring atoms of different chains.Stuke 1974, p. 178; Donohue 1982, pp. 386–87; Cotton et al. 1999, p. 501 Tellurium is a semiconductor with an electrical conductivity of around 1.0 S•cm−1Becker, Johnson & Nussbaum 1971, p. 56 and a band gap of 0.32 to 0.38 eV.Berger 1997, p. 90 Liquid tellurium is a semiconductor, with an electrical conductivity, on melting, of around 1.9 × 103 S•cm−1. Superheated liquid tellurium is a metallic conductor.Chizhikov & Shchastlivyi 1970, p. 16

Most of the chemistry of tellurium is characteristic of a nonmetal.Jolly 1966, pp. 66–67

It shows some cationic behaviour. The dioxide dissolves in acid to yield the trihydroxotellurium(IV) Te(OH)3+ ion;Schwietzer & Pesterfield 2010, p. 239{{refn|1=Cotton et al.Cotton et al. 1999, p. 498 note that TeO2 appears to have an ionic lattice; WellsWells 1984, p. 715 suggests that the Te–O bonds have "considerable covalent character".|group=n}} the red Te42+ and yellow-orange Te62+ ions form when tellurium is oxidized in fluorosulfuric acid (HSO3F), or liquid sulfur dioxide (SO2), respectively.Wiberg 2001, p. 588 It can form alloys with aluminium, silver, and tin.Mellor 1964a, p.  30; Wiberg 2001, p. 589 Tellurium shows fewer tendencies to anionic behaviour than ordinary nonmetals. Its solution chemistry is characterised by the formation of oxyanions. Tellurium generally forms compounds in which it has an oxidation state of −2, +4 or +6. The +4 state is the most stable. Tellurides of composition XxTey are easily formed with most other elements and represent the most common tellurium minerals. Nonstoichiometry is pervasive, especially with transition metals. Many tellurides can be regarded as metallic alloys.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, pp. 765–66 The increase in metallic character evident in tellurium, as compared to the lighter chalcogens, is further reflected in the reported formation of various other oxyacid salts, such as a basic selenate 2TeO2·SeO3 and an analogous perchlorate and periodate 2TeO2·HXO4.Bagnall 1966, pp. 134–51; Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 786 Tellurium forms a polymeric, amphoteric, glass-forming oxide TeO2. It is a "conditional" glass-forming oxide – it forms a glass with a very small amount of additive. Tellurium has an extensive organometallic chemistry (see Organotellurium chemistry).Detty & O'Regan 1994, pp. 1–2

Elements less commonly recognised as metalloids

=Carbon=

{{Main|Carbon}}

File:Graphite2.jpg (as graphite). Delocalized valence electrons within the layers of graphite give it a metallic appearance.Hill & Holman 2000, p. 124|alt=A shiny grey-black cuboid nugget with a rough surface.]]

Carbon is ordinarily classified as a nonmetalChang 2002, p. 314 but has some metallic properties and is occasionally classified as a metalloid.Kent 1950, pp. 1–2; Clark 1960, p. 588; Warren & Geballe 1981 Hexagonal graphitic carbon (graphite) is the most thermodynamically stable allotrope of carbon under ambient conditions.Housecroft & Sharpe 2008, p. 384; IUPAC 2006–, rhombohedral graphite entry It has a lustrous appearanceMingos 1998, p. 171 and is a fairly good electrical conductor.Wiberg 2001, p. 781 Graphite has a layered structure. Each layer consists of carbon atoms bonded to three other carbon atoms in a hexagonal lattice arrangement. The layers are stacked together and held loosely by van der Waals forces and delocalized valence electrons.Charlier, Gonze & Michenaud 1994

The electrical conductivity of graphite is high parallel to its planes (30 kS/cm at 25 °C), and decreases with increasing temperature, indicating semimetallic behaviour along that direction. Perpendicular to the planes, graphite behaves as a semiconductor: the conductivity is low (5 S/cm) but increases as the temperature rises.Atkins et al. 2006, pp. 320–21{{refn|1=Liquid carbon maySavvatimskiy 2005, p. 1138 or may notTogaya 2000 be a metallic conductor, depending on pressure and temperature; see also.Savvatimskiy 2009|group=n}} The allotropes of carbon, including graphite, can accept foreign atoms or compounds into their structures via substitution, intercalation, or doping. The resulting materials are sometimes referred to as "carbon alloys".Inagaki 2000, p. 216; Yasuda et al. 2003, pp. 3–11 Carbon can form ionic salts, including a hydrogen sulfate, perchlorate, and nitrate (C{{su|b=24|p=+}}X.2HX, where X = HSO4, ClO4; and C{{su|b=24|p=+}}NO{{su|b=3|p=–}}.3HNO3).O'Hare 1997, p. 230{{refn|1=For the sulfate, the method of preparation is (careful) direct oxidation of graphite in concentrated sulfuric acid by an oxidising agent, such as nitric acid, chromium trioxide or ammonium persulfate; in this instance the concentrated sulfuric acid is acting as an inorganic nonaqueous solvent.|group=n}} In organic chemistry, carbon can form complex cations{{snd}}termed carbocations{{snd}}in which the positive charge is on the carbon atom; examples are carbenium ion and carbonium ion, and their derivatives.Traynham 1989, pp. 930–31; Prakash & Schleyer 1997

Graphite is an established solid lubricant and behaves as a semiconductor in a direction perpendicular to its planes. Most of its chemistry is nonmetallic;Bailar et al. 1989, p. 743 it has a relatively high ionization energyMoore et al. 1985 and, compared to most metals, a relatively high electronegativity.House & House 2010, p. 526 Carbon can form anions such as C4− (methanide), C{{su|b=2|p=2–}} (acetylide), and C{{su|b=4|p=3–}} (sesquicarbide or allylenide), in compounds with metals of main groups 1–3, and with the lanthanides and actinides.Wiberg 2001, p. 798 Its oxide CO2 forms carbonic acid H2CO3.Eagleson 1994, p. 175{{refn|1=Only a small fraction of dissolved CO2 is present in water as carbonic acid so, even though H2CO3 is a medium-strong acid, solutions of carbonic acid are only weakly acidic.Atkins et al. 2006, p. 121|group=n}}

=Aluminium=

{{Main|Aluminium}}

File:Aluminium-4.jpg is much softer than its familiar alloys. People who handle it for the first time often ask if it is the real thing.Russell & Lee 2005, pp. 358–59|alt=A silvery white steam-iron shaped lump with semi-circular striations along the width of its top surface and rough furrows in the middle portion of its left edge.]]

Aluminium is ordinarily classified as a metal.Keevil 1989, p. 103 It is lustrous, malleable and ductile, and has high electrical and thermal conductivity. Like most metals it has a close-packed crystalline structure,Russell & Lee 2005, pp. 358–60 et seq and forms a cation in aqueous solution.Harding, Janes & Johnson 2002, p. 118

It has some properties that are unusual for a metal; taken together,Metcalfe, Williams & Castka 1974, p. 539 these are sometimes used as a basis to classify aluminium as a metalloid.Cobb & Fetterolf 2005, p. 64; Metcalfe, Williams & Castka 1974, p. 539 Its crystalline structure shows some evidence of directional bonding.Ogata, Li & Yip 2002; Boyer et al. 2004, p. 1023; Russell & Lee 2005, p. 359 Aluminium bonds covalently in most compounds.Cooper 1968, p. 25; Henderson 2000, p. 5; Silberberg 2006, p. 314 The oxide Al2O3 is amphotericWiberg 2001, p. 1014 and a conditional glass-former. Aluminium can form anionic aluminates, such behaviour being considered nonmetallic in character.Hamm 1969, p. 653

Classifying aluminium as a metalloid has been disputedDaub & Seese 1996, pp. 70, 109: "Aluminum is not a metalloid but a metal because it has mostly metallic properties."; Denniston, Topping & Caret 2004, p. 57: "Note that aluminum (Al) is classified as a metal, not a metalloid."; Hasan 2009, p. 16: "Aluminum does not have the characteristics of a metalloid but rather those of a metal." given its many metallic properties. It is therefore, arguably, an exception to the mnemonic that elements adjacent to the metal–nonmetal dividing line are metalloids.Holt, Rinehart & Wilson c. 2007{{refn|1=A mnemonic that captures the elements commonly recognised as metalloids goes: Up, up-down, up-down, up ... are the metalloids!Tuthill 2011|group=n}}

StottStott 1956, p. 100 labels aluminium as a weak metal. It has the physical properties of a metal but some of the chemical properties of a nonmetal. SteeleSteele 1966, p. 60 notes the paradoxical chemical behaviour of aluminium: "It resembles a weak metal in its amphoteric oxide and in the covalent character of many of its compounds ... Yet it is a highly electropositive metal ... [with] a high negative electrode potential". MoodyMoody 1991, p. 303 says that, "aluminium is on the 'diagonal borderland' between metals and non-metals in the chemical sense."

=Selenium=

{{Main|Selenium}}

File:Selenium black (cropped).jpg, being a photoconductor, conducts electricity around 1,000 times better when light falls on it, a property used since the mid-1870s in various light-sensing applicationsEmsley 2001, p. 382|alt=A small glass jar filled with small dull grey concave buttons. The pieces of selenium look like tiny mushrooms without their stems.]]

Selenium shows borderline metalloid or nonmetal behaviour.Young et al. 2010, p. 9; Craig & Maher 2003, p. 391. Selenium is "near metalloidal".{{refn|1=Rochow,Rochow 1957 who later wrote his 1966 monograph The metalloids,Rochow 1966, p. 224 commented that, "In some respects selenium acts like a metalloid and tellurium certainly does".|group=n}}

Its most stable form, the grey trigonal allotrope, is sometimes called "metallic" selenium because its electrical conductivity is several orders of magnitude greater than that of the red monoclinic form.Moss 1952, p. 192 The metallic character of selenium is further shown by its lustre,Glinka 1965, p. 356 and its crystalline structure, which is thought to include weakly "metallic" interchain bonding.Evans 1966, pp. 124–25 Selenium can be drawn into thin threads when molten and viscous.Regnault 1853, p. 208 It shows reluctance to acquire "the high positive oxidation numbers characteristic of nonmetals".Scott & Kanda 1962, p. 311 It can form cyclic polycations (such as Se{{su|b=8|p=2+}}) when dissolved in oleumsCotton et al. 1999, pp. 496, 503–04 (an attribute it shares with sulfur and tellurium), and a hydrolysed cationic salt in the form of trihydroxoselenium(IV) perchlorate [Se(OH)3]+·ClO{{su|b=4|p=–}}.Arlman 1939; Bagnall 1966, pp. 135, 142–43

The nonmetallic character of selenium is shown by its brittleness and the low electrical conductivity (~10−9 to 10−12 S•cm−1) of its highly purified form.Kozyrev 1959, p. 104; Chizhikov & Shchastlivyi 1968, p. 25; Glazov, Chizhevskaya & Glagoleva 1969, p. 86 This is comparable to or less than that of bromine (7.95{{e|–12}} S•cm−1),Chao & Stenger 1964 a nonmetal. Selenium has the electronic band structure of a semiconductorBerger 1997, pp. 86–87 and retains its semiconducting properties in liquid form. It has a relatively highSnyder 1966, p. 242 electronegativity (2.55 revised Pauling scale). Its reaction chemistry is mainly that of its nonmetallic anionic forms Se2−, SeO{{su|b=3|p=2−}} and SeO{{su|b=4|p=2−}}.Fritz & Gjerde 2008, p. 235

Selenium is commonly described as a metalloid in the environmental chemistry literature.Meyer et al. 2005, p. 284; Manahan 2001, p. 911; Szpunar et al. 2004, p. 17 It moves through the aquatic environment similarly to arsenic and antimony;US Environmental Protection Agency 1988, p. 1; Uden 2005, pp. 347‒48 its water-soluble salts, in higher concentrations, have a similar toxicological profile to that of arsenic.De Zuane 1997, p. 93; Dev 2008, pp. 2‒3

=Polonium=

{{Main|Polonium}}

Polonium is "distinctly metallic" in some ways.Cotton et al. 1999, p. 502 Both of its allotropic forms are metallic conductors. It is soluble in acids, forming the rose-coloured Po2+ cation and displacing hydrogen: Po + 2 H+ → Po2+ + H2.Wiberg 2001, p. 594 Many polonium salts are known.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 786; Schwietzer & Pesterfield 2010, pp. 242–43 The oxide PoO2 is predominantly basic in nature.Bagnall 1966, p. 41; Nickless 1968, p. 79 Polonium is a reluctant oxidizing agent, unlike its lightest congener oxygen: highly reducing conditions are required for the formation of the Po2− anion in aqueous solution.Bagnall 1990, pp. 313–14; Lehto & Hou 2011, p. 220; Siekierski & Burgess 2002, p. 117: "The tendency to form X2− anions decreases down the Group [16 elements] ..."

Whether polonium is ductile or brittle is unclear. It is predicted to be ductile based on its calculated elastic constants.Legit, Friák & Šob 2010, pp. 214118–18 It has a simple cubic crystalline structure. Such a structure has few slip systems and "leads to very low ductility and hence low fracture resistance".Manson & Halford 2006, pp. 378, 410

Polonium shows nonmetallic character in its halides, and by the existence of polonides. The halides have properties generally characteristic of nonmetal halides (being volatile, easily hydrolyzed, and soluble in organic solvents).Bagnall 1957, p. 62; Fernelius 1982, p. 741 Many metal polonides, obtained by heating the elements together at 500–1,000 °C, and containing the Po2− anion, are also known.Bagnall 1966, p. 41; Barrett 2003, p. 119

=Astatine=

{{Main|Astatine}}

As a halogen, astatine tends to be classified as a nonmetal.Hawkes 2010; Holt, Rinehart & Wilson c. 2007; Hawkes 1999, p. 14; Roza 2009, p. 12 It has some marked metallic propertiesKeller 1985 and is sometimes instead classified as either a metalloidHarding, Johnson & Janes 2002, p. 61 or (less often) as a metal.{{refn|1=A further option is to include astatine both as a nonmetal and as a metalloid.Long & Hentz 1986, p. 58|group=n}} Immediately following its production in 1940, early investigators considered it a metal.Vasáros & Berei 1985, p. 109 In 1949 it was called the most noble (difficult to reduce) nonmetal as well as being a relatively noble (difficult to oxidize) metal.Haissinsky & Coche 1949, p. 400 In 1950 astatine was described as a halogen and (therefore) a reactive nonmetal.Brownlee et al. 1950, p. 173 In 2013, on the basis of relativistic modelling, astatine was predicted to be a monatomic metal, with a face-centred cubic crystalline structure.Hermann, Hoffmann & Ashcroft 2013

Several authors have commented on the metallic nature of some of the properties of astatine. Since iodine is a semiconductor in the direction of its planes, and since the halogens become more metallic with increasing atomic number, it has been presumed that astatine would be a metal if it could form a condensed phase.Siekierski & Burgess 2002, pp. 65, 122{{refn|1=A visible piece of astatine would be immediately and completely vaporized because of the heat generated by its intense radioactivity.Emsley 2001, p. 48|group=n}} Astatine may be metallic in the liquid state on the basis that elements with an enthalpy of vaporization (∆Hvap) greater than ~42 kJ/mol are metallic when liquid.Rao & Ganguly 1986 Such elements include boron,{{refn|1=The literature is contradictory as to whether boron exhibits metallic conductivity in liquid form. Krishnan et al.Krishnan et al. 1998 found that liquid boron behaved like a metal. Glorieux et al.Glorieux, Saboungi & Enderby 2001 characterised liquid boron as a semiconductor, on the basis of its low electrical conductivity. Millot et al.Millot et al. 2002 reported that the emissivity of liquid boron was not consistent with that of a liquid metal.|group=n}} silicon, germanium, antimony, selenium, and tellurium. Estimated values for ∆Hvap of diatomic astatine are 50 kJ/mol or higher;Vasáros & Berei 1985, p. 117 diatomic iodine, with a ∆Hvap of 41.71,Kaye & Laby 1973, p. 228 falls just short of the threshold figure.

"Like typical metals, it [astatine] is precipitated by hydrogen sulfide even from strongly acid solutions and is displaced in a free form from sulfate solutions; it is deposited on the cathode on electrolysis."Samsonov 1968, p. 590{{refn|1=KorenmanKorenman 1959, p. 1368 similarly noted that "the ability to precipitate with hydrogen sulfide distinguishes astatine from other halogens and brings it closer to bismuth and other heavy metals".|group=n}} Further indications of a tendency for astatine to behave like a (heavy) metal are: "... the formation of pseudohalide compounds ... complexes of astatine cations ... complex anions of trivalent astatine ... as well as complexes with a variety of organic solvents".Rossler 1985, pp. 143–44 It has also been argued that astatine demonstrates cationic behaviour, by way of stable At+ and AtO+ forms, in strongly acidic aqueous solutions.Champion et al. 2010

Some of astatine's reported properties are nonmetallic. It has been extrapolated to have the narrow liquid range ordinarily associated with nonmetals (mp 302 °C; bp 337 °C),Borst 1982, pp. 465, 473 although experimental indications suggest a lower boiling point of about 230±3 °C. Batsanov gives a calculated band gap energy for astatine of 0.7 eV;Batsanov 1971, p. 811 this is consistent with nonmetals (in physics) having separated valence and conduction bands and thereby being either semiconductors or insulators.Swalin 1962, p. 216; Feng & Lin 2005, p. 157 The chemistry of astatine in aqueous solution is mainly characterised by the formation of various anionic species.Schwietzer & Pesterfield 2010, pp. 258–60 Most of its known compounds resemble those of iodine,Hawkes 1999, p. 14 which is a halogen and a nonmetal.Olmsted & Williams 1997, p. 328; Daintith 2004, p. 277 Such compounds include astatides (XAt), astatates (XAtO3), and monovalent interhalogen compounds.Eberle1985, pp. 213–16, 222–27

Restrepo et al.Restrepo et al. 2004, p. 69; Restrepo et al. 2006, p. 411 reported that astatine appeared to be more polonium-like than halogen-like. They did so on the basis of detailed comparative studies of the known and interpolated properties of 72 elements.

Related concepts

=Near metalloids=

File:Iodinecrystals.JPG crystals, showing a metallic lustre. Iodine is a semiconductor in the direction of its planes, with a band gap of ~1.3 eV. It has an electrical conductivity of 1.7 × 10−8 S•cm−1 at room temperature.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 804 This is higher than selenium but lower than boron, the least electrically conducting of the recognised metalloids.{{refn|1=The separation between molecules in the layers of iodine (350 pm) is much less than the separation between iodine layers (427 pm; cf. twice the van der Waals radius of 430 pm).Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, p. 803 This is thought to be caused by electronic interactions between the molecules in each layer of iodine, which in turn give rise to its semiconducting properties and shiny appearance.Wiberg 2001, p. 416|group=n}}|alt=Shiny violet-black coloured crystalline shards.]]

In the periodic table, some of the elements adjacent to the commonly recognised metalloids, although usually classified as either metals or nonmetals, are occasionally referred to as near-metalloidsCraig & Maher 2003, p. 391; Schroers 2013, p. 32; Vernon 2013, pp. 1704–05 or noted for their metalloidal character. To the left of the metal–nonmetal dividing line, such elements include gallium,Cotton et al. 1999, p. 42 tinMarezio & Licci 2000, p. 11 and bismuth. They show unusual packing structures,Russell & Lee 2005, p. 5 marked covalent chemistry (molecular or polymeric),Parish 1977, pp. 178, 192–93 and amphoterism.Eggins 1972, p. 66; Rayner-Canham & Overton 2006, pp. 29–30 To the right of the dividing line are carbon,Atkins et al. 2006, pp. 320–21; Bailar et al. 1989, pp. 742–43 phosphorus,Rochow 1966, p. 7; Taniguchi et al. 1984, p. 867: "... black phosphorus ... [is] characterized by the wide valence bands with rather delocalized nature."; Morita 1986, p. 230; Carmalt & Norman 1998, p. 7: "Phosphorus ... should therefore be expected to have some metalloid properties."; Du et al. 2010. Interlayer interactions in black phosphorus, which are attributed to van der Waals-Keesom forces, are thought to contribute to the smaller band gap of the bulk material (calculated 0.19 eV; observed 0.3 eV) as opposed to the larger band gap of a single layer (calculated ~0.75 eV). seleniumStuke 1974, p. 178; Cotton et al. 1999, p. 501; Craig & Maher 2003, p. 391 and iodine.Steudel 1977, p. 240: "... considerable orbital overlap must exist, to form intermolecular, many-center ... [sigma] bonds, spread through the layer and populated with delocalized electrons, reflected in the properties of iodine (lustre, color, moderate electrical conductivity)."; Segal 1989, p. 481: "Iodine exhibits some metallic properties ..." They exhibit metallic lustre, semiconducting properties{{refn|1=For example: intermediate electrical conductivity;Lutz et al. 2011, p. 17 a relatively narrow band gap;Yacobi & Holt 1990, p. 10; Wiberg 2001, p. 160 light sensitivity.|group=n}} and bonding or valence bands with delocalized character. This applies to their most thermodynamically stable forms under ambient conditions: carbon as graphite; phosphorus as black phosphorus;{{refn|1=White phosphorus is the least stable and most reactive form.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, pp. 479, 482 It is also the most common, industrially important,Eagleson 1994, p. 820 and easily reproducible allotrope, and for these three reasons is regarded as the standard state of the element.Oxtoby, Gillis & Campion 2008, p. 508|group=n}} and selenium as grey selenium.

=Allotropes=

File:Sn-Alpha-Beta.jpg (left) and grey tin (right). Both forms have a metallic appearance.|alt=Many small, shiny, silver-coloured spheres on the left; many of the same sized spheres on the right are duller and darker than the ones of the left and have a subdued metallic shininess.]]

Different crystalline forms of an element are called allotropes. Some allotropes, particularly those of elements located (in periodic table terms) alongside or near the notional dividing line between metals and nonmetals, exhibit more pronounced metallic, metalloidal or nonmetallic behaviour than others.Brescia et al. 1980, pp. 166–71 The existence of such allotropes can complicate the classification of the elements involved.Fine & Beall 1990, p. 578

Tin, for example, has two allotropes: tetragonal "white" β-tin and cubic "grey" α-tin. White tin is a very shiny, ductile and malleable metal. It is the stable form at or above room temperature and has an electrical conductivity of 9.17 × 104 S·cm−1 (~1/6th that of copper).Wiberg 2001, p. 901 Grey tin usually has the appearance of a grey micro-crystalline powder, and can also be prepared in brittle semi-lustrous crystalline or polycrystalline forms. It is the stable form below 13.2 °C and has an electrical conductivity of between (2–5) × 102 S·cm−1 (~1/250th that of white tin).Berger 1997, p. 80 Grey tin has the same crystalline structure as that of diamond. It behaves as a semiconductor (as if it had a band gap of 0.08 eV), but has the electronic band structure of a semimetal.Lovett 1977, p. 101 It has been referred to as either a very poor metal,Cohen & Chelikowsky 1988, p. 99 a metalloid,Taguena-Martinez, Barrio & Chambouleyron 1991, p. 141 a nonmetalEbbing & Gammon 2010, p. 891 or a near metalloid.Vernon 2013, p. 1705

The diamond allotrope of carbon is clearly nonmetallic, being translucent and having a low electrical conductivity of 10−14 to 10−16 S·cm−1.Asmussen & Reinhard 2002, p. 7 Graphite has an electrical conductivity of 3 × 104 S·cm−1,Deprez & McLachan 1988 a figure more characteristic of a metal. Phosphorus, sulfur, arsenic, selenium, antimony, and bismuth also have less stable allotropes that display different behaviours.Addison 1964 (P, Se, Sn); Marković, Christiansen & Goldman 1998 (Bi); Nagao et al. 2004

Abundance, extraction, and cost

class="wikitable sortable" style="float:right"
ZElementGrams
/tonne
align="right" |8Oxygenalign="right" | 461,000
align="right" |14Siliconalign="right" | 282,000
align="right" |13Aluminiumalign="right" | 82,300
align="right" |26Ironalign="right" | 56,300
align="right" |6Carbonalign="right" | 200
align="right" |29Copperalign="right" | 60
align="right" |5Boronalign="right" | 10
align="right" |33Arsenicalign="right" | 1.8
align="right" |32Germaniumalign="right" | 1.5
align="right" |47Silveralign="right" | 0.075
align="right" |34Seleniumalign="right" | 0.05
align="right" |51Antimonyalign="right" | 0.02
align="right" |79Goldalign="right" | 0.004
align="right" |52Telluriumalign="right" | 0.001
align="right" |75Rheniumalign="right" | 0.00000000077×10−10
align="right" |54Xenonalign="right" | 0.000000000033×10−11
align="right" |84Poloniumalign="right" | 0.00000000000000022×10−16
align="right" |85Astatinealign="right" | 0.0000000000000000033×10−20

=Abundance=

The table gives crustal abundances of the elements commonly to rarely recognised as metalloids.Lide 2005; Wiberg 2001, p. 423: At Some other elements are included for comparison: oxygen and xenon (the most and least abundant elements with stable isotopes); iron and the coinage metals copper, silver, and gold; and rhenium, the least abundant stable metal (aluminium is normally the most abundant metal). Various abundance estimates have been published; these often disagree to some extent.Cox 1997, pp. 182‒86

=Extraction=

The recognised metalloids can be obtained by chemical reduction of either their oxides or their sulfides. Simpler or more complex extraction methods may be employed depending on the starting form and economic factors.MacKay, MacKay & Henderson 2002, p. 204 Boron is routinely obtained by reducing the trioxide with magnesium: B2O3 + 3 Mg → 2 B + 3MgO; after secondary processing the resulting brown powder has a purity of up to 97%.Baudis 2012, pp. 207–08 Boron of higher purity (> 99%) is prepared by heating volatile boron compounds, such as BCl3 or BBr3, either in a hydrogen atmosphere (2 BX3 + 3 H2 → 2 B + 6 HX) or to the point of thermal decomposition. Silicon and germanium are obtained from their oxides by heating the oxide with carbon or hydrogen: SiO2 + C → Si + CO2; GeO2 + 2 H2 → Ge + 2 H2O. Arsenic is isolated from its pyrite (FeAsS) or arsenical pyrite (FeAs2) by heating; alternatively, it can be obtained from its oxide by reduction with carbon: 2 As2O3 + 3 C → 2 As + 3 CO2.Wiberg 2001, p. 741 Antimony is derived from its sulfide by reduction with iron: Sb2S3 → 2 Sb + 3 FeS. Tellurium is prepared from its oxide by dissolving it in aqueous NaOH, yielding tellurite, then by electrolytic reduction: TeO2 + 2 NaOH → Na2TeO3 + H2O;Chizhikov & Shchastlivyi 1968, p. 96 Na2TeO3 + H2O → Te + 2 NaOH + O2.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, pp. 140–41, 330, 369, 548–59, 749: B, Si, Ge, As, Sb, Te Another option is reduction of the oxide by roasting with carbon: TeO2 + C → Te + CO2.Kudryavtsev 1974, p. 158

Production methods for the elements less frequently recognised as metalloids involve natural processing, electrolytic or chemical reduction, or irradiation. Carbon (as graphite) occurs naturally and is extracted by crushing the parent rock and floating the lighter graphite to the surface. Aluminium is extracted by dissolving its oxide Al2O3 in molten cryolite Na3AlF6 and then by high temperature electrolytic reduction. Selenium is produced by roasting the coinage metal selenides X2Se (X = Cu, Ag, Au) with soda ash to give the selenite: X2Se + O2 + Na2CO3 → Na2SeO3 + 2 X + CO2; the selenide is neutralized by sulfuric acid H2SO4 to give selenous acid H2SeO3; this is reduced by bubbling with SO2 to yield elemental selenium. Polonium and astatine are produced in minute quantities by irradiating bismuth.Greenwood & Earnshaw 2002, pp. 271, 219, 748–49, 886: C, Al, Se, Po, At; Wiberg 2001, p. 573: Se

=Cost=

The recognised metalloids and their closer neighbours mostly cost less than silver; only polonium and astatine are more expensive than gold, on account of their significant radioactivity. As of 5 April 2014, prices for small samples (up to 100 g) of silicon, antimony and tellurium, and graphite, aluminium and selenium, average around one third the cost of silver (US$1.5 per gram or about $45 an ounce). Boron, germanium, and arsenic samples average about three-and-a-half times the cost of silver.{{refn|1=Sample prices of gold, in comparison, start at roughly thirty-five times that of silver. Based on sample prices for B, C, Al, Si, Ge, As, Se, Ag, Sb, Te, and Au available on-line from [https://www.alfa.com/en/pure-elements/ Alfa Aesa]; [http://www.goodfellow.com/catalogue/GFCatL.php?ewd_token=d9JJMyYK0a7QlDSc171OUVMREOSDVO&n=FkZgkaaF0WMB5EJhaP0zaLTZIN5ixG&ewd_urlNo=GFCatalogue2&next=Period Goodfellow]; [http://www.elementsales.com/pl_element.htm Metallium]; and [http://www.unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=16_17_69 United Nuclear Scientific].|group=n}} Polonium is available for about $100 per microgram.United Nuclear 2013 Zalutsky and PruszynskiZalutsky & Pruszynski 2011, p. 181 estimate a similar cost for producing astatine. Prices for the applicable elements traded as commodities tend to range from two to three times cheaper than the sample price (Ge), to nearly three thousand times cheaper (As).{{refn|1=Based on spot prices for Al, Si, Ge, As, Sb, Se, and Te available on-line from [http://www.fastmarkets.com/minor-metals FastMarkets: Minor Metals]; [http://www.fastmarkets.com/base-metals Fast Markets: Base Metals]; [http://pv.energytrend.com/ EnergyTrend: PV Market Status, Polysilicon]; and [http://www.metal-pages.com/metals/arsenic/metal-prices-news-information/ Metal-Pages: Arsenic metal prices, news, and information].|group=n}}

Notes

{{Reflist|group=n|colwidth=45em}}

References

{{Reflist|20em}}

=Sources=

{{Div col|colwidth=20em|small=yes}}

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Further reading

  • Brady JE, Humiston GE & Heikkinen H (1980), "Chemistry of the Representative Elements: Part II, The Metalloids and Nonmetals", in General Chemistry: Principles and Structure, 2nd ed., SI version, John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 537–91, {{ISBN|0-471-06315-0}}
  • Chedd G (1969), Half-way Elements: The Technology of Metalloids, Doubleday, New York{{ISBN?}}
  • Choppin GR & Johnsen RH (1972), "Group IV and the Metalloids", in Introductory Chemistry, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, pp. 341–57
  • Dunstan S (1968), "The Metalloids", in Principles of Chemistry, D. Van Nostrand Company, London, pp. 407–39
  • Goldsmith RH (1982), "Metalloids", Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 59, no. 6, pp. 526527, {{doi|10.1021/ed059p526}}
  • Hawkes SJ (2001), "Semimetallicity", Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 78, no. 12, pp. 1686–87, {{doi|10.1021/ed078p1686}}
  • Metcalfe HC, Williams JE & Castka JF (1974), "Aluminum and the Metalloids", in Modern Chemistry, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, pp. 538–57, {{ISBN|0-03-089450-6}}
  • Miller JS (2019), "Viewpoint: Metalloids – An Electronic Band Structure Perspective", Chemistry – A European Perspective, preprint version, {{doi|10.1002/chem.201903167}}
  • Moeller T, Bailar JC, Kleinberg J, Guss CO, Castellion ME & Metz C (1989), "Carbon and the Semiconducting Elements", in Chemistry, with Inorganic Qualitative Analysis, 3rd ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego, pp. 742–75, {{ISBN|0-15-506492-4}}
  • Parveen N et al. (2020), "Metalloids in plants: A systematic discussion beyond description", Annals of Applied Biology, {{doi|10.1111/aab.12666of}}
  • Rieske M (1998), "Metalloids", in Encyclopedia of Earth and Physical Sciences, Marshall Cavendish, New York, vol. 6, pp. 758–59, {{ISBN|0-7614-0551-8}} (set)
  • Rochow EG (1966), The Metalloids, DC Heath and Company, Boston{{ISBN?}}
  • Vernon RE (2013), "Which Elements are Metalloids?", Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 90, no. 12, pp. 1703–07, {{doi|10.1021/ed3008457}}
  • —— (2020,) [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10698-020-09356-6 "Organising the Metals and Nonmetals"], Foundations of Chemistry, (open access)

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