La2CuO4
Lanthanum cuprate · LCO
La2CuO4 is a stable, semimetallic lanthanum cuprate oxide used primarily in advanced catalytic research and materials science applications.

About Lanthanum cuprate
La2CuO4 is a thermodynamically stable oxide that occupies a significant position within the family of complex transition metal oxides. Characterized by its near-zero-gap electronic structure, this material exhibits semimetallic behavior that distinguishes it from many traditional insulating oxide catalysts.
Its structural robustness and electronic properties make it a subject of extensive investigation for catalytic applications. As a member of the broader class of oxide materials, it serves as a foundational compound for understanding electron transport and surface reactivity in complex metal-oxygen frameworks.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Lanthanum cuprate, aggregated across 3 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for La2CuO4, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I4/mmm (No. 139) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0000 | -7.865 | 6.72 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0579 | -7.807 | 6.92 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0698 | -7.796 | 7.03 |
| Fmm2 (No. 42) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.0703 | -7.795 | 7.01 |
| I4/mmm (No. 139) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.0705 | -7.795 | 7.00 |
| Cmc21 (No. 36) | orthorhombic | 0.06 | 0.0774 | -7.788 | 6.98 |
| I4/mmm (No. 139) | Tetragonal | — | — | — | 6.73 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 6.92 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 7.16 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 7.16 |
| Cmce (No. 64) | Orthorhombic | — | — | — | 7.03 |
| I4/mmm (No. 139) | Tetragonal | — | — | — | 7.00 |
Applications
Where Lanthanum cuprate is used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Lanthanum cuprate, answered from cross-validated data.
What is La2CuO4?
La2CuO4 is a stable, semimetallic lanthanum cuprate oxide used primarily in advanced catalytic research and materials science applications.
What is La2CuO4 used for?
What is the band gap of La2CuO4?
Is La2CuO4 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is La2CuO4 thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of La2CuO4?
What is the density of La2CuO4?
How many polymorphs of La2CuO4 are known?
What elements does La2CuO4 contain?
Where does the data for La2CuO4 come from?
How It Compares
Within the spinel oxide catalysts class.
Within the diverse group of spinel and perovskite-related oxides, La2CuO4 stands out for its unique electronic profile compared to wide-gap insulators like Al2O3 or ZnO. While it shares structural similarities with other lanthanum-based perovskites such as LaMnO3 and LaAlO3, its specific copper-oxygen coordination and semimetallic nature provide distinct advantages in catalytic redox processes that are not present in simpler binary oxides like NiO or CuO.
Related Compounds
Other Spinel Oxide Catalysts in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
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