Chemical state

The chemical state of a chemical element is due to its electronic, chemical and physical properties as it exists in combination with itself or a group of one or more other elements. A chemical state is often defined as an "oxidation state" when referring to metal cations. When referring to organic materials, a chemical state is usually defined as a chemical group, which is a group of several elements bonded together. Material scientists, solid state physicists, analytical chemists, surface scientists and spectroscopists describe or characterize the chemical, physical and/or electronic nature of the surface or the bulk regions of a material as having or existing as one or more chemical states.