Why do metalloids conduct electricity less well than true metals?

1. Electrical conductivity in metals depends on how freely their electrons can move through the material. 2. The text explains: "they do not conduct electricity as well as metals so they are semiconductors. They are semiconductors because their electrons are more tightly bound to their nuclei than are those of metallic conductors." 3. This intermediate binding strength is exactly what makes metalloids semiconductors rather than good conductors or true insulators. 4. So it is this tighter electron binding, not an absence of electrons or a liquid state, that limits metalloid conductivity. _Source: OpenStax Chemistry Ch 18 "Representative Metals, Metalloids, and Nonmetals", p.978 §18.3 Structure and General Properties of the Metalloids_