Boron

Isbela Osorio
Data Base
Classification:
Boron is a metalloid
Color:
black
Atomic weight:
10.81
State:
solid
Melting point:
2075 oC, 2348 K
Boiling point:
3727 oC , 4000 K
Electrons:
5
Protons:
5
Neutrons in most abundant isotope:
6
Electron shells:
2,3
Electron configuration:
1s2 2s2 2p1
Density @ 20oC:
2.34 g/cm3
Discovery of Boron

• Boron was first partially isolated in 1808 by French chemists Joseph L. Gay-Lussac
and L. J. Thénard and independently by Sir Humphry Davy in London. Gay-Lussac &
Thénard reacted boric acid with magnesium orsodium to yield boron, a gray solid.
They believed it shared characteristics with sulfur and phosphorus and named it
bore.

• Davy first tried to produce boron by electrolysis of boric acid, but was not satisfied with
the results.
He enjoyed greater success reacting boric acid with potassium in a hydrogen
atmosphere.
The result was a powdery substance.

• In 2009, a team led by Artem Oganov was able to demonstrate the new form of boron
contains two structures, B12 icosohedra and B2 pairs. Gamma-boron, as it has been
called, is almost as hard as diamond and more heat-resistant than diamond.
Interesting facts about Boron

• Boron is an essential nutrient for all green plants.

• Boron in its crystalline form is very unreactive. Amorphous boron is

reactive.

• Unusually, the universe’s atoms of boron were not made by nuclear

fusion within stars and were not made in the big bang. They were
made by nuclear fusion in cosmic-ray collisions. Most of the
universe’s boron was made in this way before the formation of our
solar system.
Appearance and characteristics

Harmful effects Characteristics

• Elemental boron is not • Boron is a metalloid,
known to be toxic. intermediate between metals
and non-metals. It exists in
many polymorphs (different
crystal lattice structures),
some more metallic than
others. Metallic boron is
extremely hard and has a
very high melting point.
Uses of Boron

• Boron is used to dope silicon and germanium

semiconductors, modifying their electrical properties.
Boron oxide (B2O3) is used in glassmaking and ceramics.
Borax (Na2B4O7.10H2O) is used in making fiberglass, as a
cleansing fluid, a water softener, insecticide, herbicide and
disinfectant.
 Abundance and Isotopes

Abundance earth’s crust: 10 parts per million by weight, 1 part per million by moles

Abundance solar system: 2 parts per billion by weight, 0.2 parts per billion by moles

Cost, pure: $1114 per 100g

Cost, bulk: $500 per 100g

Source: Boron compounds are usually is found in sediments and sedimentary rock
formations. The chief sources of boron are Na2B4O6(OH)2.3H2O – known as rasorite or
kernite; borax ore (known as tincal); and with calcium in colemanite (CaB3O4(OH)4.H2O).
Boron also occurs as orthoboric acid in some volcanic spring waters.

Isotopes: 11 whose half-lives are known, with mass numbers 7 to 17. Naturally occurring
boron is a mixture of its two stable isotopes and they are found in the percentages shown: 10B
(19.9%) and 11B (80.1%). 10B is used in nuclear reactors as a neutron-capturing substance.