Gallium

Gallium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Discovered by the French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in Paris, France, 1875,

elemental gallium is a soft, silvery metal at standard temperature and pressure with a complex orthorhombic crystal structure. In its liquid state, it becomes silvery white. If enough force is applied, solid gallium may fracture conchoidally. Gallium does not occur as a free element in nature, but rather as gallium(III) compounds in trace amounts in zinc ores (such as sphalerite) and in bauxite.

The melting point of gallium, , is used as a temperature reference point. One of only four metal elements that is liquid at, or near, normal room temperature, gallium will melt in a person's hands at normal human body temperature of . Gallium alloys with low temperatures are used in thermometers as a non-toxic and environmentally friendly alternative to mercury, and can withstand higher temperatures than mercury. A melting point of , well below the freezing point of water, is claimed for the alloy galinstan (62–⁠95% gallium, 5–⁠22% indium, and 0–⁠16% tin by weight), but that may be the freezing point with the effect of supercooling.

Gallium is predominantly used in electronics. Gallium arsenide, the primary chemical compound of gallium in electronics, is used in microwave circuits, high-speed switching circuits, and infrared circuits. Semiconducting gallium nitride and indium gallium nitride produce blue and violet light-emitting diodes and diode lasers. Gallium is also used in the production of artificial gadolinium gallium garnet for jewelry. It has no known natural role in biology. Gallium(III) behaves in a similar manner to ferric salts in biological systems and has been used in some medical applications, including pharmaceuticals and radiopharmaceuticals.

Physical properties

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File:Gallium crystals.jpg|Crystalline (orthorhomobic) gallium

File:Gallium kristallisiert.JPG|Crystallization of gallium from the liquid

File:Liquid gallium.png|Liquid gallium at

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Elemental gallium is not found in nature, but it is easily obtained by smelting. Very pure gallium is a silvery blue metal that fractures conchoidally like glass.

Gallium forms alloys with most metals. It readily diffuses into cracks or grain boundaries of some metals such as aluminium, aluminium–zinc alloys and steel, causing extreme loss of strength and ductility called liquid metal embrittlement.

Under normal conditions, gallium does not crystallize in any of the simple crystal structures. Instead, its stable phase (Ga-I) is a complex orthorhombic structure with eight atoms in the conventional unit cell. Within a unit cell, each atom has only one nearest neighbor (at a distance of 244&nbsp;pm). The remaining six unit cell neighbors are spaced 27, 30 and 39&nbsp;pm farther away, and they are grouped in pairs with the same distance. The bonding between the two nearest neighbors is covalent; hence Ga₂ dimers are seen as the fundamental building blocks of the crystal. This explains the low melting point relative to the neighbor elements, aluminium and indium. This structure is strikingly similar to that of iodine and may form because of interactions between the single 4p electrons of gallium atoms, further away from the nucleus than the 4s electrons and the [Ar]3d¹⁰ core. This phenomenon recurs with mercury with its "pseudo-noble-gas" [Xe]4f¹⁴5d¹⁰6s² electron configuration, which is liquid at room temperature.

Liquid gallium

The melting point of gallium, at , is just above room temperature, and is approximately the same as the average summer daytime temperatures in Earth's mid-latitudes. This melting point (mp) is one of the formal temperature reference points in the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) established by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). The triple point of gallium, , is used by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in preference to the melting point.

Gallium is one of the four non-radioactive metals (with caesium, rubidium, and mercury) that are known<!--PLEASE DO NOT ADD FRANCIUM; ITS MELTING POINT IS ONLY CALCULATED, AND ITS INTENSE RADIOACTIVITY WOULD MEAN THAT SHOULD YOU HAVE ENOUGH AROUND TO FILL A THERMOMETER, MEASURING ITS TEMPERATURE SHOULD NOT BE YOUR GREATEST CONCERN--> to be liquid at, or near, normal room temperature. Of the four, gallium is the only one that is neither highly reactive (as are rubidium and caesium) nor highly toxic (as is mercury) and can, therefore, be used in metal-in-glass high-temperature thermometers. It is also notable for having one of the largest liquid ranges for a metal, and for having (unlike mercury) a low vapor pressure at high temperatures. Gallium's boiling point, , is nearly nine times higher than its melting point on the absolute scale, the greatest ratio between melting point and boiling point of any element. and PTFE),

In gallium, this anomalous behaviour is a result of the breaking of the Ga₂ dimeric bonds present in the solid. While the covalently bonded Ga₂ dimers do not persist in the liquid state, liquid gallium does exhibit an anomalous complex low-coordinated structure in which each gallium atom is surrounded by 10 others, compared to 11–12 nearest neighbors typical of most liquid metals.

Liquid Ga is known to show extreme supercooling properties, that is to say it can remain liquid below its standard solidification temperature. Micrometric Ga droplets can be undercooled at temperatures as lower as 150 K. Ga nanoparticles can be kept in the liquid state below . Seeding with a crystal helps to initiate freezing.

thumb|left|Phase diagram for gallium up to . Gallium exhibits a negative high-pressure melting curve, melting from the complex [[orthorhombic Ga-I phase when compressed to at room temperature. On further compression to , liquid Ga crystallizes into a metastable Ga-III phase with a simple body-centred-tetragonal structure. A highly complex Ga-II phase with a 103-atom orthorhombic structure can be obtained by compressing Ga-I at temperatures below . At simultaneous high-pressure and high-temperature conditions, liquid gallium experiences an increase in atomic packing towards 12 nearest-neighbours expected for a simple metallic liquid. However, while pressure causes liquid gallium to resemble a simple hard-sphere liquid, as for liquid mercury, even at very high pressures (up to around ), it contains many more atomic clusters with low configurational entropy than expected for a simple liquid.

Gallium-67 and gallium-68 (half-life 67.84&nbsp;min) are both used for imaging in nuclear medicine (see gallium scan).

Chemical properties

Gallium is found primarily in the +3 oxidation state. The +1 oxidation state is also found in some compounds, although it is less common than it is for gallium's heavier congeners indium and thallium. For example, the very stable GaCl₂ contains both gallium(I) and gallium(III) and can be formulated as Ga^IGa^IIICl₄; in contrast, the monochloride is unstable above 0&nbsp;°C, disproportionating into elemental gallium and gallium(III) chloride. Compounds containing Ga–Ga bonds are true gallium(II) compounds, such as GaS (which can be formulated as Ga₂⁴⁺(S²⁻)₂) and the dioxane complex Ga₂Cl₄(C₄H₈O₂)₂. Gallium(III) hydroxide, , may be precipitated from gallium(III) solutions by adding ammonia. Dehydrating at 100&nbsp;°C produces gallium oxide hydroxide, GaO(OH).

Alkaline hydroxide solutions dissolve gallium, forming gallate salts (not to be confused with identically named gallic acid salts) containing the anion. it was not found in later work.

Oxides and chalcogenides

Gallium reacts with the chalcogens only at relatively high temperatures. At room temperature, gallium metal is not reactive with air and water because it forms a passive, protective oxide layer. At higher temperatures, however, it reacts with atmospheric oxygen to form gallium(III) oxide, . Reducing with elemental gallium in vacuum at 500&nbsp;°C to 700&nbsp;°C yields the dark brown gallium(I) oxide, .

Gallium(III) sulfide, , has 3 possible crystal modifications.

:2 + 3 → + 6

Reacting a mixture of alkali metal carbonates and with leads to the formation of thiogallates containing the anion. Strong acids decompose these salts, releasing in the process.

Gallium also forms sulfides in lower oxidation states, such as gallium(II) sulfide and the green gallium(I) sulfide, the latter of which is produced from the former by heating to 1000&nbsp;°C under a stream of nitrogen.

Gallium forms ternary nitrides; for example:

:GaCl + →

Hydrides

Like aluminium, gallium also forms a hydride, , known as gallane, which may be produced by reacting lithium gallium hydride () with gallium(III) chloride at −30&nbsp;°C:

Organogallium compounds

Organogallium compounds are of similar reactivity to organoindium compounds, less reactive than organoaluminium compounds, but more reactive than organothallium compounds. These alkylgalliums are liquids at room temperature, having low melting points, and are quite mobile and flammable. Triphenylgallium is monomeric in solution, but its crystals form chain structures due to weak intermolecluar Ga···C interactions. Gallium trichloride reacts with lithium cyclopentadienide in diethyl ether to form the trigonal planar gallium cyclopentadienyl complex GaCp₃. Gallium(I) forms complexes with arene ligands such as hexamethylbenzene. Because this ligand is quite bulky, the structure of the [Ga(η⁶-C₆Me₆)]⁺ is that of a half-sandwich. Less bulky ligands such as mesitylene allow two ligands to be attached to the central gallium atom in a bent sandwich structure. Benzene is even less bulky and allows the formation of dimers: an example is [Ga(η⁶-C₆H₆)₂][GaCl₄]·3C₆H₆.

:{| class="wikitable"

|+ Comparison between Mendeleev's 1871 predictions and the known properties of gallium <!----> Later that year, Lecoq obtained the free metal by electrolysis of the hydroxide in potassium hydroxide solution.

Originally, de Boisbaudran determined the density of gallium as 4.7&nbsp;g/cm³, the only property that failed to match Mendeleev's predictions; Mendeleev then wrote to him and suggested that he should remeasure the density, and de Boisbaudran then obtained the correct value of 5.9&nbsp;g/cm³, that Mendeleev had predicted exactly. to reduce the melting point of alloys.

First blue gallium nitride LED were developed in 1971–1973, but they were feeble. Only in the early 1990s Shuji Nakamura managed to combine GaN with indium gallium nitride and develop the modern blue LED, now making the basis of ubiquitous white LEDs, which Nichia commercialized in 1993. He and two other Japanese scientists received a Nobel in Physics in 2014 for this work.

Global gallium production slowly grew from several tens of t/year in the 1970s til ca. 2010, when it passed 100 t/yr and rapidly accelerated, by 2024 reaching about 450 t/yr.

Occurrence

Gallium does not exist as a free element in the Earth's crust, and the few high-content minerals, such as gallite (CuGaS₂), are too rare to serve as a primary source. The abundance in the Earth's crust is approximately 16.9&nbsp;ppm. It is the 34th most abundant element in the crust. This is comparable to the crustal abundances of lead, cobalt, and niobium. Yet unlike these elements, gallium does not form its own ore deposits with concentrations of > 0.1 wt.% in ore. Rather it occurs at trace concentrations similar to the crustal value in zinc ores, Some coal flue dusts contain small quantities of gallium, typically less than 1% by weight. However, these amounts are not extractable without mining of the host materials (see below). Thus, the availability of gallium is fundamentally determined by the rate at which bauxite, zinc ores, and coal are extracted.

Production and availability

thumb|left|99.9999% (6N) gallium sealed in vacuum ampoule

Gallium is produced exclusively as a by-product during the processing of the ores of other metals. Its main source material is bauxite, the chief ore of aluminium, but minor amounts are also extracted from sulfidic zinc ores (sphalerite being the main host mineral). In the past, certain coals were an important source.

During the processing of bauxite to alumina in the Bayer process, gallium accumulates in the sodium hydroxide liquor. From this it can be extracted by a variety of methods. The most recent is the use of ion-exchange resin. Achievable extraction efficiencies critically depend on the original concentration in the feed bauxite. At a typical feed concentration of 50&nbsp;ppm, about 15% of the contained gallium is extractable.

thumb|Bauxite mine in [[Jamaica (1984)]]

Its by-product status means that gallium production is constrained by the amount of bauxite, sulfidic zinc ores (and coal) extracted per year. Therefore, its availability needs to be discussed in terms of supply potential. The supply potential of a by-product is defined as that amount which is economically extractable from its host materials per year under current market conditions (i.e. technology and price). Reserves and resources are not relevant for by-products, since they cannot be extracted independently from the main-products. Recent estimates put the supply potential of gallium at a minimum of 2,100&nbsp;t/yr from bauxite, 85&nbsp;t/yr from sulfidic zinc ores, and potentially 590 t/yr from coal. Thus, major future increases in the by-product production of gallium will be possible without significant increases in production costs or price. The average price for low-grade gallium was $120 per kilogram in 2016 and $135–140 per kilogram in 2017.

China produced tons of low-grade gallium in 2016 and tons in 2017. It also accounted for more than half of global LED production. and 95% of its production.

China produced 80% of the world's gallium and 60% of germanium (source: Critical Raw Materials Alliance (CRMA)). China started restricting exports of both materials. They are key to the semiconductor industry and there is a 'chip war' between China and the US.

In 2025, Rio Tinto and Indium Corporation partnered to mine the first primary gallium in North America.

In July 2025, the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote:

"China is increasingly weaponizing its chokehold over critical minerals amid intensifying economic and technological competition with the United States. The critical mineral gallium, which is crucial to defense industry supply chains and new energy technologies, has been at the front line of China’s strategy."

In 2024, China produced 98 percent of the world’s low-purity gallium (source: United States Geological Survey (USGS)). As of 2022, 44% of world use went to light fixtures and 36% to integrated circuits, with smaller shares equal to ~7% going to photovoltaics and magnets each.

Semiconductors

thumb|Gallium-based blue LEDs

Extremely high-purity (>99.9999%) gallium is commercially available to serve the semiconductor industry. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) used in electronic components represented about 98% of the gallium consumption in the United States in 2007. About 66% of semiconductor gallium is used in the U.S. in integrated circuits (mostly gallium arsenide), such as the manufacture of ultra-high-speed logic chips and MESFETs for low-noise microwave preamplifiers in cell phones. About 20% of this gallium is used in optoelectronics.

Worldwide, gallium arsenide makes up 95% of the annual global gallium consumption.

Other major applications of gallium nitride are cable television transmission, commercial wireless infrastructure, power electronics, and satellites. The GaN radio frequency device market alone was estimated at $370&nbsp;million in 2016 and $420&nbsp;million in 2016. Gallium is also a component in photovoltaic compounds (such as copper indium gallium selenium sulfide ) used in solar panels as a cost-efficient alternative to crystalline silicon.

Galinstan and other alloys

thumb|Galinstan easily wetting a piece of ordinary glass

thumb|Owing to their low melting points, gallium and its alloys can be shaped into various 3D forms using [[3D printing and additive manufacturing.]]

Gallium readily alloys with most metals, and is used as an ingredient in low-melting alloys. The nearly eutectic alloy of gallium, indium, and tin is a room temperature liquid used in medical thermometers. This alloy, with the trade-name Galinstan (with the "-stan" referring to the tin, in Latin), has a low melting point of −19&nbsp;°C (−2.2&nbsp;°F). this family of alloys can also be used to cool computer chips in place of water, and as a replacement for thermal paste in high-performance computing. Gallium alloys have been evaluated as substitutes for mercury dental amalgams, but these materials have yet to see wide acceptance. Liquid alloys containing mostly gallium and indium have been found to precipitate gaseous CO₂ into solid carbon and are being researched as potential methodologies for carbon capture and possibly carbon removal.

Because gallium wets glass or porcelain, gallium can be used to create brilliant mirrors. When the wetting action of gallium-alloys is not desired (as in Galinstan glass thermometers), the glass must be protected with a transparent layer of gallium(III) oxide.

Due to their high surface tension and deformability, gallium-based liquid metals can be used to create actuators by controlling the surface tension. Researchers have demonstrated the potentials of using liquid metal actuators as artificial muscle in robotic actuation.

The plutonium used in nuclear weapon pits is stabilized in the δ phase and made machinable by alloying with gallium.

Biomedical applications

Although gallium has no natural function in biology, gallium ions interact with processes in the body in a manner similar to iron(III). Because these processes include inflammation, a marker for many disease states, several gallium salts are used (or are in development) as pharmaceuticals and radiopharmaceuticals in medicine. Interest in the anticancer properties of gallium emerged when it was discovered that ⁶⁷Ga(III) citrate injected in tumor-bearing animals localized to sites of tumor. Clinical trials have shown gallium nitrate to have antineoplastic activity against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and urothelial cancers. A new generation of gallium-ligand complexes such as tris(8-quinolinolato)gallium(III) (KP46) and gallium maltolate has emerged. Gallium nitrate (brand name Ganite) has been used as an intravenous pharmaceutical to treat hypercalcemia associated with tumor metastasis to bones. Gallium is thought to interfere with osteoclast function, and the therapy may be effective when other treatments have failed. Gallium maltolate, an oral, highly absorbable form of gallium(III) ion, is an anti-proliferative to pathologically proliferating cells, particularly cancer cells and some bacteria that accept it in place of ferric iron (Fe³⁺). Researchers are conducting clinical and preclinical trials on this compound as a potential treatment for a number of cancers, infectious diseases, and inflammatory diseases.

When gallium ions are mistakenly taken up in place of iron(III) by bacteria such as Pseudomonas, the ions interfere with respiration, and the bacteria die. This happens because iron is redox-active, allowing the transfer of electrons during respiration, while gallium is redox-inactive.

A complex amine-phenol Ga(III) compound MR045 is selectively toxic to parasites resistant to chloroquine, a common drug against malaria. Both the Ga(III) complex and chloroquine act by inhibiting crystallization of hemozoin, a disposal product formed from the digestion of blood by the parasites.

Radiogallium salts

Gallium-67 salts such as gallium citrate and gallium nitrate are used as radiopharmaceutical agents in the nuclear medicine imaging known as gallium scan. The radioactive isotope ⁶⁷Ga is used, and the compound or salt of gallium is unimportant. The body handles Ga³⁺ in many ways as though it were Fe³⁺, and the ion is bound (and concentrates) in areas of inflammation, such as infection, and in areas of rapid cell division. This allows such sites to be imaged by nuclear scan techniques.

Other uses

Neutrino detection: Gallium is used for neutrino detection. Possibly the largest amount of pure gallium ever collected in a single location is the Gallium-Germanium Neutrino Telescope used by the SAGE experiment at the Baksan Neutrino Observatory in Russia. This detector contains 55–57 tonnes (~9 cubic metres) of liquid gallium. Another experiment was the GALLEX neutrino detector operated in the early 1990s in an Italian mountain tunnel. The detector contained 12.2 tons of watered gallium-71. Solar neutrinos caused a few atoms of ⁷¹Ga to become radioactive ⁷¹Ge, which were detected. This experiment showed that the solar neutrino flux is 40% less than theory predicted. This deficit (solar neutrino problem) was not explained until better solar neutrino detectors and theories were constructed (see SNO).

Ion source: Gallium is also used as a liquid metal ion source for a focused ion beam. For example, a focused gallium-ion beam was used to create the world's smallest book, Teeny Ted from Turnip Town.

Lubricants: Gallium serves as an additive in glide wax for skis and other low-friction surface materials.

Flexible electronics: Materials scientists speculate that the properties of gallium could make it suitable for the development of flexible and wearable devices.

Hydrogen generation: Gallium disrupts the protective oxide layer on aluminium, allowing water to react with the aluminium in AlGa to produce hydrogen gas.

Humor: A well-known practical joke among chemists is to fashion gallium spoons and use them to serve tea to unsuspecting guests, since gallium has a similar appearance to its lighter homolog aluminium. The spoons then melt in the hot tea.

Gallium in the ocean

Advances in trace element testing have allowed scientists to discover traces of dissolved gallium in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In recent years, dissolved gallium concentrations have presented in the Beaufort Sea. These reports reflect the possible profiles of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean waters. The reason for this is that gallium is geochemically similar to aluminium, just less reactive. Gallium also has a slightly larger surface water residence time than aluminium. Gallium is used as a tracer for iron in the northwest Pacific, south and central Atlantic Oceans.

| NFPA-H = 1

| NFPA-F = 0

| NFPA-R = 0

| NFPA-S =

| NFPA_ref =

Metallic gallium is not toxic. However, several gallium compounds are toxic.

Gallium halide complexes can be toxic. The Ga³⁺ ion of soluble gallium salts tends to form the insoluble hydroxide when injected in large doses; precipitation of this hydroxide resulted in nephrotoxicity in animals. In lower doses, soluble gallium is tolerated well and does not accumulate as a poison, instead being excreted mostly through urine. Excretion of gallium occurs in two phases: the first phase has a biological half-life of 1 hour, while the second has a biological half-life of 25 hours.

Inhaled Ga₂O₃ particles are probably toxic.

Notes

References

External links

• Gallium at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham)
• Safety data sheet at acialloys.com
• High-resolution photographs of molten gallium, gallium crystals and gallium ingots under Creative Commons licence
• Textbook information regarding gallium
• Environmental effects of gallium
• Gallium Statistics and Information
• Gallium: A Smart Metal United States Geological Survey
• Thermal conductivity
• Physical and thermodynamical properties of liquid gallium (doc pdf)
• usgs.gov (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025): Gallium