[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] 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.
The carbon and fluorine in Teflon (PTFE) both have an electronic charge of zero since they form a covalent bond, but few scientists describe those elements as having an oxidation state of zero.
Elements or chemical groups that have an ionic charge can usually be dissolved to form ions in either water or another polar solvent.
Such a compound or salt is described as an ionic compound with ionic bonds which means that, in effect, all of the electron density of one or more valence electrons has been transferred from the less electronegative group of elements to the more electronegative group of elements.
The following list of neutral compounds, anions, cations, functional groups and chemical species is a partial list of the many groups of elements that can exhibit or have a unique "chemical state" while being part of the surface or the bulk of a solid state material.