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1 Notable characteristics
In its crystalline form, silicon has a metallic luster and a grayish color. Even though it is a relatively inert element, silicon still reacts with halogens and dilute alkalis, but most acids (except for a combination of nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid) do not affect it. Elemental silicon transmits more than 95% of all wavelengths of infrared light. Pure silicon crystals are rarely found in nature, as natural silicon is usually found as silica (SiO2). Pure silicon crystals can be found as inclusions in gold, or in volcanic exhalations.
2 Applications
Silicon is a very useful element that is vital to many human industries. Silicon dioxide in the form of sand and clay is an important ingredient of concrete and brick and is also used to produce Portland cement. Silicon is a very important element for plant and animal life. Diatoms extract silica from water to build their protective cell walls. Other uses:
- Pottery/ Enamel - It is a refractory material used in high-temperature material production and its silicates are used in making enamels and pottery.
- Steel - Silicon is an important constituent of some steels.
- Glass - Silica from sand is a principal component of glass. Glass can be made into a great variety of shapes and is used to make window glass, containers, and insulators, among many other uses.
- Abrasives - Silicon carbide is one of the most important abrasives.
- Semiconductor - Ultrapure silicon can be doped with arsenic, boron, gallium, or phosphorus to make silicon more conductive for use in transistors, solar cells and other semiconductor devices which are used in electronics and other high-tech applications.
- Photonics - Silicon can be used in lasers to produce coherent light with a wavelength of 456 nm.
- Medical materials - Silicones are flexible compounds containing silicon- oxygen and silicon- carbon bonds; they are widely used in applications such as artificial breast implants and contact lenses.
- LCDs and solar cells - Hydrogenated amorphous silicon has shown promise in the production of low-cost, large-area electronics in applications such as LCDs. It has also shown promise for large-area, low-cost solar cells.
- Construction - Silica is a major ingredient in bricks because of its low chemical activity.
3 History
Silicon ( Latin silex, silicis meaning flint) was first identified by Antoine Lavoisier in 1787, and was later mistaken by Humphry Davy in 1800 for a compound. In 1811 Gay Lussac and Thénard probably prepared impure amorphous silicon through the heating of potassium with silicon tetrafluoride. In 1824 Berzelius prepared amorphous silicon using approximately the same method of Lussac. Berzelius also purified the product by repeatedly washing it.
Because silicon is an important element in semiconductor and high-tech devices, the high-tech region of Silicon Valley, California, is named after this element.
