The gas decomposes slowly at room temperature but rapidly at 200 °C: The decomposition is autocatalytic and can be explosive.

Stibine is used in the semiconductor industry to dope silicon with small quantities of antimony via the process of chemical vapour deposition (CVD).

In 1876 Francis Jones tested several synthesis methods,[6] but it was not before 1901 when Alfred Stock determined most of the properties of stibine.

[9] Stibine binds to the haemoglobin of red blood cells, causing them to be destroyed by the body.

The first signs of exposure, which can take several hours to become apparent, are headaches, vertigo, and nausea, followed by the symptoms of hemolytic anemia (high levels of unconjugated bilirubin), hemoglobinuria, and nephropathy.