Boron physical properties

Table 1 Hsts some of the physical properties of duoroboric acid. It is a strong acid in water, equal to most mineral acids in strength and has a p p o of —4.9 as compared to —4.3 for nitric acid (9). The duoroborate ion contains a neady tetrahedral boron atom with almost equidistant B—F bonds in the sohd state. Although lattice effects and hydrogen bonding distort the ion, the average B—F distance is 0.138 nm the F—B—F angles are neady the theoretical 109° (10,11). Raman spectra on molten, ie, Hquid NaBF agree with the symmetrical tetrahedral stmcture (12).

Electronic-Grade MMCs. Metal-matrix composites can be tailored to have optimal thermal and physical properties to meet requirements of electronic packaging systems, eg, cotes, substrates, carriers, and housings. A controUed thermal expansion space tmss, ie, one having a high precision dimensional tolerance in space environment, was developed from a carbon fiber (pitch-based)/Al composite. Continuous boron fiber-reinforced aluminum composites made by diffusion bonding have been used as heat sinks in chip carrier multilayer boards. 

The physical properties of elemental boron are significantly affected by purity and crystal form. In addition to being an amorphous powder, boron has four crystalline forms a-rhombohedral, P-rhombohedral, a-tetragonal, and -tetragonal. The a-rhombohedral form has mp 2180°C, sublimes at approximately 3650°C, and has a density of 2.45 g/mL. Amorphous boron, by comparison, has mp 2300°C, sublimes at approximately 2550°C, and has a density of 2.35 g/mL. 

Despite the fact that many boron hydride compounds possess unique chemical and physical properties, very few of these compounds have yet undergone significant commercial exploitation. This is largely owing to the extremely high cost of most boron hydride materials, which has discouraged development of all but the most exotic appHcations. Nevertheless, considerable commercial potential is foreseen for boron hydride materials if and when economical and rehable sources become available. Only the simplest of boron hydride compounds, most notably sodium tetrahydroborate, NajBHJ, diborane(6), B2H, and some of the borane adducts, eg, amine boranes, are now produced in significant commercial quantities. 

The determination of precise physical properties for elemental boron is bedevilled by the twin difficulties of complex polymorphism and contamination by irremovable impurities. Boron is an extremely hard refractory solid of high mp, low density and very low electrical conductivity. Crystalline forms are dark red in transmitted light and powdered forms are black. The most stable ()3-rhombohedral) modification has mp 2092°C (exceeded only by C among the non-metals), bp 4000°C, d 2.35 gcm (a-rhombohedral form 2.45gcm ), A77sublimation 570kJ per mol of B, electrical conductivity at room temperature 1.5 x 10 ohm cm- . 

Boron is a covalently bonded, refractory, non-metallic insulator of great hardness and is thus not directly comparable in its physical properties with Al, Ga, In and Tl, which are all low-melting, rather soft metals having a very low electrical... 

The structure of CaB contains bonding bands typical of the boron sublattice and capable of accommodating 20 electrons per CaB formula, and separated from antibonding bands by a relatively narrow gap (from 1.5 to 4.4 eV) . The B atoms of the B(, octahedron yield only 18 electrons thus a transfer of two electrons from the metal to the boron sublattice is necessary to stabilize the crystalline framework. The semiconducting properties of M B phases (M = Ca, Sr ", Ba, Eu, Yb ) and the metallic ones of M B or M B5 phases (Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd ", Gd , Tb , Dy and Th ) are directly explained by this model . The validity of these models may be questionable because of the existence and stability of Na,Ba, Bft solid solutions and of KB, since they prove that the CaB -type structure is still stable when the electron contribution of the inserted atom is less than two . A detailed description of physical properties of hexaborides involves not only the bonding and antibonding B bands, but also bonds originating in the atomic orbitals of the inserted metal . ... 

Noteworthy is the "B resonance in 103, which falls in the range 58-60 ppm, very little different from the signal of trivinylborane (55 ppm) therefore, any extensive ir-electron delocalization and density on boron can be ruled out. Thus both in chemical and physical properties, such systems as 103 can be considered antiaromatic. 

Non-oxide ceramics such as silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (SijN ), and boron nitride (BN) offer a wide variety of unique physical properties such as high hardness and high structural stability under environmental extremes, as well as varied electronic and optical properties. These advantageous properties provide the driving force for intense research efforts directed toward developing new practical applications for these materials. These efforts occur despite the considerable expense often associated with their initial preparation and subsequent transformation into finished products. 

Quite evidently, changing the structure of the aromatic carbene from BA to XA has a profound effect on AGST. There is a difference of more than lOkcalmol-1 in this physical property for these two structures. This difference, in turn, appears to control and determine the chemical properties of the carbenes. With the assumptions outlined earlier, this effect can be wholly attributed to a perturbation of the electronic character engendered by replacement of the boron in BA with the oxygen of XA. It will be seen shortly that these two carbenes represent extremes of a nearly continuously tunable range of carbene properties. 

See also Borates Boric acid Sodium borates boron oxides, 4 246-249 boron oxides table,4 242t environmental concerns, 4 284—285 health and safety factors, 4 285-288 occurrence, 4 245—246 Boron perchlorates, 18 278 Boron phosphate, 4 242t, 283 Boron removal, from water, 14 418 Boron-stabilized carbanions, 13 660-661 Boron subhalides, 4 141 Boron suboxide, 4 242t Boron tribromide, 4 138 manufacture, 4 145—146 physical properties of, 4 139-140t, 325 reactions, 4 141 specifications, 4 147t uses of, 4 149 Boron trichloride, 4 138 manufacture, 4 145—146 physical properties of, 4 139-140t reactions, 4 141... 

Cubed compound, in PVC siding manufacture, 25 685 Cube lattice, 8 114t Cubic boron nitride, 1 8 4 654 grinding wheels, 1 21 hardness in various scales, l 3t physical properties of, 4 653t Cubic close-packed (CCP) structure, of spinel ferrites, 11 60 Cubic ferrites, 11 55-57 Cubic geometry, for metal coordination numbers, 7 574, 575t. See also Cubic structure Cubic symmetry Cubic silsesquioxanes (CSS), 13 539 Cubic structure, of ferroelectric crystals, 11 94-95, 96 Cubic symmetry, 8 114t Cubitron sol-gel abrasives, 1 7 Cucurbituril inclusion compounds,... 

Manganese borates, 4 282 Manganese boron, 4 136 Manganese bromide, physical properties of, 4 329... 

Molecular nitrogen, 17 271. See also Dinitrogen entries physical properties of, 17 272t Molecular nitrogen lasers, 14 688-691 Molecular orbital (MO) calculations, for boron hydrides, heteroboranes, and their metalla derivatives, 4 183-184 Molecular orbital laser examiner (MOLE), 16 485... 

Boron remarks on its crystal structure. The atomic and physical properties of boron are reported in 5.13.2 with a few data about its crystal structures in the elemental state. A few more comments will be added here in order to insert also boron in this short summary of the crystal properties of the various elements. In this general although partial picture, the peculiar characteristics of boron have indeed to be underlined. 

Mendeleev observed that there were some gaps in his table, empty spaces to which no element was assigned. He concluded that these represented elements that had not yet been discovered. For example, there was a gap under boron, so Mendeleev concluded that it must be an unknown element with properties like boron. He named it eka-boron ( eka is Sanskrit for the numeral one). Similarly, there were gaps under aluminum and silicon. Mendeleev called these missing elements eka-aluminum and eka-silicon. The positions of the missing elements in his table allowed him to estimate their atomic weights and also to describe their chemical and physical properties accurately. 

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