Copper selenide is an
inorganicbinary compound between
copper and
selenium. The chemical formula depends on the ratio between the two elements, such as CuSe or Cu2Se.
The crystalline structure and electronic behavior is determined by its elemental composition.[2]Stoichiometric copper selenide is a zero
bandgap material with metal-like behavior.[3] Copper-deficient Cu2-xSe (
non-stoichiometric) is an intrinsic
p-type semiconductor with direct and indirect bandgap energies in the range of 2.1–2.3 eV and 1.2–1.4 eV, respectively.[4] It is frequently grown as
nanoparticles or other
nanostructures.[5][6][7]
Uses
Copper selenide is produced
in-situ to form a protective black coating on iron or steel parts in some
cold-bluing processes.[8] Bluing solutions that operate in this manner will typically be labeled as containing
selenous acid or
selenium dioxide.[9][10] It has also been investigated for use in the treatment of colon cancer.[6]
Natural occurrences
Copper selenides are the most common selenium minerals. CuSe is known in mineralogy as
klockmannite,[11] while Cu2Se occurs as two polymorphs,
berzelianite[12] (isometric, more common) and bellidoite (tetragonal). There are more natural Cu selenides to date, including
umangite, Cu3Se2 and
athabascaite, Cu5Se4.[13]
^Patidar, D.; Saxena, N. S. (2012-03-15). "Characterization of single phase copper selenide nanoparticles and their growth mechanism". Journal of Crystal Growth. 343 (1): 68–72.
Bibcode:
2012JCrGr.343...68P.
doi:
10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2012.01.026.