![]() ![]() High-Strength Ceramicsįirst produced synthetically in the nineteenth century, silicon nitride has been known to science for about as long as silicon carbide, but nonetheless took a much slower path to commercial exploitation. Metallurgical-grade silicon is also used as a minor alloying agent in a number of other alloys designed for specialized applications. The appropriate proportions of aluminum and silicon produce a material that exhibits very little thermal contraction during solidification, making it ideal for casting applications. The most common non-ferrous silicon alloys are aluminum-silicon alloys. Used in larger amounts, as in electrical steel, silicon favorably influences resistivity and ferromagnetic properties of the material.įor use in non-ferrous alloys, metallurgical grade silicon is produced by reacting high-purity silica with carbon in an electric arc furnace. In molten iron, silicon aids in maintaining carbon content within narrow limits required for a given steel grade. ![]() Silica sand is reduced with carbon in the presence of iron to produce ferrosilicon, which can then be used in silicon-containing steels. Silicon is commonly used as an alloying element. The following paragraphs give an overview of the major categories of silicon end uses, but do not constitute an exhaustive list. Common silica sand is the starting point for production of a variety of refined silica products, other silicon compounds, silicon-containing alloys, and elemental silicon at various levels of purity, all of which play significant roles in industry. ![]() More refined silicon products account for a much smaller portion of commercial silicon usage, but nonetheless are extremely important economically. Additionally, diatomaceous earth, a form of silica rock consisting of fossilized remains of diatoms, has many direct commercial applications, especially as an absorbent, a filtration medium, a mild abrasive, and a natural pesticide. Sand is also used widely as an abrasive and as a filler in plastics, rubber, and paints. Silicate-containing rock such as granite is used directly in structural and decorative applications, and silica sand mixed with gravel and cement produces concrete. Silicate clays are used to produce whiteware ceramics such as porcelain and in the making of ceramic bricks and cement used as building materials. The vast majority of silicon used commercially is never separated out of the materials in which it occurs naturally, which are often processed fairly minimally before use. The name was changed to silicon in 1817, as the -on ending suggested its closer relation to the non-metallic elements boron and carbon, but it wasn’t until 1823 that the Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius finally succeeded in preparing pure amorphous silicon and as the first to do so was given credit for “discovering” the element. In 1808, Sir Humphry Davy named this hypothetical element “silicium”, combining the Latin silex, meaning stone, with the traditional -ium ending often given to metallic elements. It was first proposed that silica sand was likely the oxide of a previously unknown element by Antoine Lavoisier in 1787. Instead, it occurs mostly as silicon dioxide, more commonly known as sand or quartz, or in silicate minerals, generally in the found in the forms of clay or rock. Silicon is truly ubiquitous, but is almost never found as the free element in nature. It has a melting point of 1414°c and a boiling point of 3265°c.American Elements: The Materials Science Company™ | Certified bulk & lab quantity manufacturer of metals, chemicals, nanoparticles & other advanced materials It is located in Group 14 as a metalloid solid at room temperature, it is relatively light weight and strong. Many scientists worked on the discovery of Silicon but it wasn’t until 1823 that Jöns Jacob Berzelius isolated Silicon by his reduction of Potassium fluorosilicate using Potassium metal to produce pure Silicon. This Silicon is often mixed with other metals to increase its conductivity. Silicon is most commonly used in semiconductors the most well known are computer circuits and microelectronics due to its property being able to conduct electricity. ![]() The most common forms of Silicon found in the earth’s crust are oxides like sand and quartz. The compounds of silicon are known as silicates and they make up over 90% of the earths crusts. It is most commonly found in compounds and never found naturally. 8th most abundant element in the universe and is the second most abundant element by weight on earth. It is a metalloid that has the atomic number 14 in the periodic table. Silicon (Si) is a crystalline blue-grey solid with a metallic appearance. ![]()
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