Crystalline Boron
Boron is a chemical element with symbol B and atomic number 5. Because boron is produced entirely by cosmic ray spallation, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's.
Chemically uncombined boron, which is classified as a metalloid, is not found naturally on Earth. Industrially, very pure boron is produced extremely difficult. Several types of boron exist: amorphous boron is a brown powder and crystalline boron is black and extremely hard. Boron compounds are used in silica-based glasses and ceramics to give them resistance to thermal shock.
Boron is more toxic to arthropods and are used as insecticides. Boron is essential to life. Small amounts of boron compounds play a strengthening role in the cell walls of all plants, making boron necessary in soils.
The name boron originates from the Arabic word ' buraq’ or borax.
Boron compounds were known thousands of years ago. Borax glazes were used in China from AD300, and some even reached the West, where the Persian scientist Jābir ibn Hayyān seems to mention it in AD700. Marco Polo brought some glazes back to Italy in the 13th century. In 1777, boric acid was recognized in the hot springs near Florence, Italy, and became mainly medical uses. The rare mineral is called sassolite, which is found at Sasso, Italy.
Boron was not recognized as an element until it was isolated by Sir Humphry Davy and by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard. Pure boron was arguably first produced by the American chemist Ezekiel Weintraub in 1909. Crystalline boron is a very hard, black material with a high melting point of above 2000 °C.
Elemental boron is rare and poorly studied because the material is very difficult to prepare. Most studies on "boron" involve samples that contain small amounts of carbon.
Chemically uncombined boron, which is classified as a metalloid, is not found naturally on Earth. Industrially, very pure boron is produced extremely difficult. Several types of boron exist: amorphous boron is a brown powder and crystalline boron is black and extremely hard. Boron compounds are used in silica-based glasses and ceramics to give them resistance to thermal shock.
Boron is more toxic to arthropods and are used as insecticides. Boron is essential to life. Small amounts of boron compounds play a strengthening role in the cell walls of all plants, making boron necessary in soils.
The name boron originates from the Arabic word ' buraq’ or borax.
Boron compounds were known thousands of years ago. Borax glazes were used in China from AD300, and some even reached the West, where the Persian scientist Jābir ibn Hayyān seems to mention it in AD700. Marco Polo brought some glazes back to Italy in the 13th century. In 1777, boric acid was recognized in the hot springs near Florence, Italy, and became mainly medical uses. The rare mineral is called sassolite, which is found at Sasso, Italy.
Boron was not recognized as an element until it was isolated by Sir Humphry Davy and by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard. Pure boron was arguably first produced by the American chemist Ezekiel Weintraub in 1909. Crystalline boron is a very hard, black material with a high melting point of above 2000 °C.
Elemental boron is rare and poorly studied because the material is very difficult to prepare. Most studies on "boron" involve samples that contain small amounts of carbon.