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Zinc diphosphide can be prepared by the reaction of zinc with phosphorus.
2 Zn + P4 → 2 ZnP2
Structure
ZnP2 has a room-temperature tetragonal form that converts to a monoclinic form at around 990 °C. In both of these forms, there are chains of P atoms, helical in the tetragonal, semi-spiral in the monoclinic.
This compound is part of the Zn-Cd-P-As quaternary system and exhibit partial solid-solution with other binary compounds of the system.
Safety
ZnP2, like Zn3P2, is highly toxic due to the release of phosphine gas when the material reacts with gastric acid.
Hegyi, I. J.; Loebner, E. E.; Poor (Jr.), E. W.; White, J. G. (1963). "Two crystal forms of ZnP2, their preparation, structure, and optoelectronic properties". Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids. 24 (2): 333–337. Bibcode:1963JPCS...24..333H. doi:10.1016/0022-3697(63)90140-9.
Hans Georg von Schnering and Wolfgang Hönle, 1994, Phosphides: Solid State Chemistry, Encyclopedia of Inorganic chemistry, Ed. R Bruce King, John Wiley and Sons, ISBN0-471-93620-0
Trukhan, V. M.; Izotov, A. D.; Shoukavaya, T. V. (2014). "Compounds and solid solutions of the Zn-Cd-P-As system in semiconductor electronics". Inorganic Materials. 50 (9): 868–873. doi:10.1134/S0020168514090143. S2CID94409384.
