Gold chalcogenides are compounds formed between
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
and one of the
chalcogen
The chalcogens (ore forming) ( ) are the chemical elements in group 16 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the oxygen family. Group 16 consists of the elements oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), and the rad ...
s, elements from
group 16
The chalcogens (ore forming) ( ) are the chemical elements in group 16 of the periodic table. This group is also known as the oxygen family. Group 16 consists of the elements oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), and the ...
of the
periodic table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the elements, is an ordered arrangement of the chemical elements into rows (" periods") and columns (" groups"). It is an icon of chemistry and is widely used in physics and other s ...
:
oxygen
Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
,
sulfur
Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...
,
selenium
Selenium is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elem ...
, or
tellurium
Tellurium is a chemical element; it has symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionally fou ...
.
*
Gold(III) oxide, Au
2O
3. Decomposes into gold and oxygen above 160 °C, and dissolves in concentrated alkalis to form solutions which probably contain the
4">u(OH)4sup>− ion
*
Gold(I) sulfide, Au
2S. Formed by reaction of
hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...
with gold(I) compounds.
*
Gold(III) sulfide, Au
2S
3, claimed material but unsubstantiated.
*Gold tellurides: Au
2Te
3, Au
3Te
5, and AuTe
2 (approximate formulas) are known as
non-stoichiometric compound
Non-stoichiometric compounds are chemical compounds, almost always solid inorganic compounds, having elemental composition whose proportions cannot be represented by a ratio of small natural numbers (i.e. an empirical formula); most often, in s ...
s. They show
metallic conductivity. Au
3Te
5 is a
superconductor at 1.62 K.
Gold telluride minerals, such as
calaverite and
krennerite (AuTe
2),
petzite (Ag
3AuTe
2), and
sylvanite (AgAuTe
2), are minor ores of gold (and tellurium). See
telluride mineral
A telluride mineral is a mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure for ...
s for more information.
References
*
Gold compounds
Non-stoichiometric compounds
Sulfides
Tellurides
{{inorganic-compound-stub
Transition metal oxides