Calorimetry can be used to determine the heat flow in chemical reactions, to measure

heats of solvation, characterize phase transitions and ligand binding to proteins.

Theoretical predictions of bond energies or of the stability and structure of
compounds can be tested. In this experiment you will become familiar with the basic
principles of calorimetry. You will use a bomb calorimeter, in which chemical
reactions take place without change of volume (isochoric reaction path). The
temperature change in a surrounding bath is monitored. You will compute standard
enthalpies of formation and perform a thorough error analysis.
The kinetics of formation of crystal boron was stu died by X-ray structure and
differential-thermal analyses. The enthalpy of transition of amorphous boron
to crystal boron with formation of an intermediate non-equilibrium phase was
determined by the calorimetric method. Studies were carried out by using the
differential scanning calorimeter SETARAM.
Amorphous boron received by diboron cracking was used as the starting material. The
test sample is characterized by stability even at a high temperature. When heated,
amorphous boron first transforms to crystal boron of α-modification, and during a
further heating, there occur several phase transitions, which means the transition of
α-rhombohedric crystal boron to the βʹ and βʺ metastable states. Studies of various
modifications were carried out by radiographic and electro-optic methods. The high
sensitiveness of the calorimeter made it possible to control temperature in the oven, make
records and detect even the smallest thermal effects.

KEYWORDS
Amorphous boron; α,β-Rombohedric Crystalline Phase; Calorimeter; Thermogram

1. INTRODUCTION
Elemental boron is rarely found in nature in its pure form, but occurs as
orthoboric acid or as borates. Boron's energy band gap of 1.50 to 1.56eV exceeds that
of either silicon or germanium. It transmits portions of infrared. While a good
conductor of electricity at high temperatures, boron's conductivity drops significantly
at room temperature.
Amorphous boron is a brown powder; whereas crystalline boron is black, extremely
hard (about 9.5 on Mohs' scale), and a poor conductor at room temperature.
Elemental boron is used as a dopant in the semiconductor industry, while boron
compounds play important roles as light structural materials, insecticides and
preservatives, and reagents for chemical synthesis.
High purity boron is crystalline. Crystalline boron may be prepared by the vapor phase
reduction of boron trichloride or tribromide with hydrogen on electrically heated
filaments.
Chemical Name: Boron
Chemical Formula: B

Synonyms
boracium, bore, boro, metallic boron, boron powder, boron, amorphous boron
powder, crystalline boron powder, enriched boron powder, boron B-10 pieces, CAS
#7440-42-8, MIL-B-51092, PA-PD-451, EINECS 231-151-2

Chemical Properties
Amorphous= 90-92% and 94-96%
Crystalline= 99%, 99.5%, 99.9+%,99.995% and 99.9995%
Magnesium coated boron powder

Physical Properties
Amorphous= fine powder
Crystalline= Granules, fine powder, and filaments