Strontium fluoride, SrF₂, also called strontium difluoride and strontium(II) fluoride, is a

fluoride Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an inorganic, monatomic anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose salts are typically white or colorless. Fluoride salts ...

strontium Strontium is the chemical element with the symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is ...

. It is a brittle white crystalline solid. In nature, it appears as the very rare mineral

strontiofluorite Strontiofluorite is a halide mineral that contains the alkali earth metal strontium and the halogen fluorine, a form of strontium fluoride. It can be considered a strontium-analogue of fluorite, which contains calcium as the dominant cation inste ...

Preparation

Strontium fluoride is prepared by the action of

hydrofluoric acid Hydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in water. Solutions of HF are colourless, acidic and highly corrosive. It is used to make most fluorine-containing compounds; examples include the commonly used pharmaceutical antidepr ...

strontium carbonate Strontium carbonate (SrCO3) is the carbonate salt of strontium that has the appearance of a white or grey powder. It occurs in nature as the mineral strontianite. Chemical properties Strontium carbonate is a white, odorless, tasteless powder. ...

Structure

The solid adopts the

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs sca ...

structure. In the vapour phase the SrF₂ molecule is non-linear with an F−Sr−F angle of approximately 120°. This is an exception to

VSEPR theory Valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory ( , ), is a model used in chemistry to predict the geometry of individual molecules from the number of electron pairs surrounding their central atoms. It is also named the Gillespie-Nyholm t ...

which would predict a linear structure. Ab initio calculations have been cited to propose that contributions from d orbitals in the shell below the valence shell are responsible. Another proposal is that polarization of the electron core of the strontium atom creates an approximately tetrahedral distribution of charge that interacts with the Sr−F bonds.Core Distortions and Geometries of the Difluorides and Dihydrides of Ca, Sr, and Ba Bytheway I, Gillespie RJ, Tang TH, Bader RF Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.34, No.9, 2407-2414, 1995

Properties

It is almost insoluble in water (its K_sp value is approximately 2.0x10⁻¹⁰ at 25

degrees Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

). It irritates eyes and skin, and is harmful when inhaled or ingested.
Similar to CaF₂ and BaF₂, SrF₂ displays

superionic conductivity Superionic water, also called superionic ice or ice XVIII is a phase of water that exists at extremely high temperatures and pressures. In superionic water, water molecules break apart and the oxygen ions crystallize into an evenly spaced latti ...

at elevated temperatures.https://web.archive.org/web/20051214052733/http://www.newmet.co.uk/Products/koch/strontium.php
/ref> Strontium fluoride is transparent to light in the wavelengths from vacuum ultraviolet (150 nm) to

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from aroun ...

(11

µm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

). Its optical properties are intermediate to

calcium fluoride Calcium fluoride is the inorganic compound of the elements calcium and fluorine with the formula CaF2. It is a white insoluble solid. It occurs as the mineral fluorite (also called fluorspar), which is often deeply coloured owing to impurities. ...

and barium fluoride.

Uses

Strontium fluoride is used as an

optical material Optical materials are transparent materials from which optical lenses, prisms, windows, waveguides, and second-surface mirrors can be made. They are required in most optical instruments. Most optical materials are rigid solids, but flexible and ...

for a small range of special applications, for example, as an

optical coating An optical coating is one or more thin layers of material deposited on an optical component such as a lens, prism or mirror, which alters the way in which the optic reflects and transmits light. These coatings have become a key technology in t ...

on lenses and also as a thermoluminescent

dosimeter A radiation dosimeter is a device that measures dose uptake of external ionizing radiation. It is worn by the person being monitored when used as a personal dosimeter, and is a record of the radiation dose received. Modern electronic personal dos ...

crystal. Another use is as a carrier of

strontium-90 Strontium-90 () is a radioactive isotope of strontium produced by nuclear fission, with a half-life of 28.8 years. It undergoes β− decay into yttrium-90, with a decay energy of 0.546 MeV. Strontium-90 has applications in medicine and ...

radioisotope A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...

radioisotope thermoelectric generator A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioacti ...

References

{{Authority control Fluorides Strontium compounds Optical materials Crystals Alkaline earth metal halides Fluorite crystal structure