Barium Fluoride

Barium Fluoride powder is a white crystalline powder composed of barium ions and fluoride ions with low water solubility, good optical transparency, and the ability to absorb specific rays, which plays an important role in many fields such as optical instruments, electronics, and chemicals.

Characteristic

Chemical formula: BaF₂.

Solubility: Slightly soluble in water, with a solubility of about 0.16g/L at 20°C; soluble in hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, acetic acid and ammonium chloride solutions, as well as organic solvents such as methanol and ethanol. This gives it different reactivity and application scenarios in different chemical environments.

Appearance: usually colourless transparent cubic crystals or white powder.

Density: Relative density is high, about 4.83-4.89g/cm³, the high density makes it advantageous in some applications where the density of the material is required, such as in the manufacture of optical glass to increase the refractive index of the glass.

Melting point: melting point is 1354℃-1368℃, with high thermal stability, can be maintained at higher temperatures in the solid state, suitable for applications in high temperature environments.

Boiling point: Boiling point is about 2260°C

Refractive index: about 1.471-1.4741, which is of great significance in the field of optics, and the higher refractive index makes it a high-quality material for manufacturing optical glass and optical components.

Crystal structure: Solid barium fluoride has fluorite-type crystal structure and cubic crystal system. This crystal structure determines the stability of its physical and chemical properties, as well as its special performance in optics, electronics and other fields. Under high pressure, barium fluoride will be transformed into lead chloride type structure.

Applications

Optical field:

Manufacture of optical components: Because barium fluoride has good transmittance to ultraviolet and infrared rays, it is often used in the manufacture of optical lenses, prisms, windows and other optical components. It is widely used in optical instruments such as ultraviolet spectral analysis, infrared spectral analysis, etc., which can effectively improve the optical performance and measurement accuracy of the instruments.

Laser materials: It can be used as a key material for laser generators, for example, in some specific wavelength lasers, barium fluoride can be used as a component of the gain medium or optical resonance cavity, which helps to produce a stable, high-quality laser beam.

Radiation detection field:

Scintillator Materials: Barium fluoride is an excellent scintillator material with important applications in the detection of X-rays, gamma rays, and other energetic particles. When irradiated by high-energy radiation, barium fluoride can convert the radiation energy into visible light, which is easy for detectors to detect and analyse, and is therefore commonly used in medical imaging equipment (such as CT, PET, etc.) and radiation detectors in nuclear physics experiments.

Metallurgical field:

Flux: In the metallurgical process, barium fluoride can be used as a flux, which can reduce the melting point and viscosity of the metal melt, promote the melting and purification of the metal, and improve the efficiency of the metallurgical process and the quality of the metal.

Solvent for desilication of ferromanganese in blast furnace: Barium fluoride does not contain oxygen atom in its molecule, so it is suitable to be used as solvent for desilication of ferromanganese in blast furnace, and it can achieve high rate of desilication and low rate of manganese oxidation loss in desilication of ferromanganese in blast furnace.

Electronic field:

Manufacture of electronic components: it is used in the manufacture of electronic components such as scintillation counters and photomultiplier tubes. These components play a key role in detection and measurement equipment in high-energy physics experiments, nuclear medicine, space science and other fields, and the optical transparency and scintillation performance of barium fluoride can meet the special requirements of these components for materials.

Semiconductor manufacturing: It can be used as a substrate material for semiconductor crystal growth. Due to its suitable lattice structure and thermal stability, it can provide a good foundation for the growth of semiconductor crystals and help prepare high-quality semiconductor devices.

Paint and enamel field: Barium fluoride can be used as an additive in the production of paints and enamels, and can improve the hardness, abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, and optical properties of paints and enamels.

Other fields:

Wood preservative: barium fluoride has certain anticorrosive properties, and can be used in the anticorrosive treatment of wood to extend the service life of wood.

Low-temperature cooling thermal imaging system: It is commonly used in low-temperature cooling thermal imaging systems to provide stable optical and thermal performance support for the system by utilising its special properties at low temperatures.