Silicon information, including Technical Data, Safety Data and its high purity properties, research, applications and other useful facts are discussed below. Scientific facts such as the atomic structure, ionization energy, abundance on Earth, conductivity and thermal properties are included.
Silicon is one of man's most useful elements. It makes up 25.7% of the earth's crust, by weight, and is the second most abundant element, being exceeded only by oxygen. The Czochralski process is commonly used to produce single crystals of silicon used for solid-state or semiconductor devices. Silica, as sand, is a principal ingredient of glass, one of the most inexpensive of materials with excellent mechanical, optical, thermal, and electrical properties. Silicon is available as metal and compounds with purities from 99% to 99.9999% (ACS grade to ultra-high purity); metals in the form of foil, sputtering target, and rod, and compounds as submicron and nanopowder. Ultra high purity silicon can be doped with boron, gallium, phosphorus , or arsenic to produce silicon for use in transistors, solar cells, rectifiers, and other solid-state devices which are used extensively in the electronics and space-age industries. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon has shown promise in producing economical cells for converting solar energy into electricity. Silcones are important products of silicon. They range from liquids to hard, glasslike solids with many useful properties. Thin film deposition of Silicon Nanoparticle quantum dots on the polycrystalline silicon substrate of a photovoltaic (solar) cell increases voltage output as much as 60% by fluorescing the incoming light prior to capture. Silicon facts, including appearance, CAS #, and molecular formula and safety data, research and properties are
Oxides are available in forms including powders and dense pellets for such uses as optical coating and thin film applications. Oxides tend to be insoluble. Fluorides are another insoluble form for uses in which oxygen is undesirable such as metallurgy, chemical and physical vapor deposition and in some optical coatings. Silicon is available in soluble forms including chlorides, nitrates and acetates. These compounds are also manufactured as solutions at specified stoichiometries. Silicon is a Block D, Group 14, Period 3 element. The electronic configuration is [Ne] 3s2 3p2. In its elemental form silicon's CAS number is 7440-21-3. The silicon atom has a radius of 117.6.pm and it's Van der Waals radius is 210.pm.All elemental metals, compounds and solutions may be synthesized in ultra high purity (e.g. 99.999%) for laboratory standards, advanced electronic, metallurgy and optical materials and other high technology advantages. Information is provided for stable (non-radioactive) isotopes. Organo-Metallic Silicon compounds are soluble in organic or non-aqueous solvents. See Analytical Services for information on available certified chemical and physical analysis techniques including MS-ICP, X-Ray Diffraction, PSD and Surface Area (BET) analysis. Silicon was first discovered by Jons Berzelius in 1823.
Abundance. The following table shows the abundance of silicon and each of its naturally occurring isotopes on Earth along with the atomic mass for each isotope. |
Silicium 
Silicium
Silicio
Silício 
Silicio 
Kisel
Isotope |
Atomic Mass |
% Abundance on Earth |
Si-28 |
27.976926533 |
92.23 |
Si-29 |
28.97649472 |
4.67 |
Si-30 |
29.97377022 |
3.10 |
Safety Data. The safety data for silicon metal, nanoparticles and its compounds can vary widely depending on the form. For potential hazard information, toxicity, and road, sea and air transportation limitations, such as DOT Hazard Class, DOT Number, EU Number, NFPA Health rating and RTECS Class, please see the specific material or compound referenced in the left margin.
Ionization Energy. The ionization energy for silicon (the least required energy to release a single electron from the atom in it's ground state in the gas phase) is stated in the following table: |
1st Ionization Energy |
786.52 kJ mol-1 |
2nd Ionization Energy |
1577.15 kJ mol-1 |
3rd Ionization Energy |
3231.61 kJ mol-1 |
Conductivity. As to silicon's electrical and thermal conductivity, the electrical conductivity measured as to electrical resistivity @ 20 ºC is 10 μΩcm and its electronegativities (or its ability to draw electrons relative to other elements) is 1.9. The thermal conductivity of silicon is 148 W m-1 K-1.
Thermal Properties. The melting point and boiling point for silicon are stated below. The following chart sets forth the heat of fusion, heat of vaporization and heat of atomization. |
Heat of Fusion |
39.6 kJ mol-1 |
Heat of Vaporization |
383.3 kJ mol-1 |
Heat of Atomization |
451.29 kJ mol-1 |
| Formula | Atomic Number | Molecular Weight | Electronegativity (Pauling) | Density | Melting Point | Boiling Point |
Vanderwaals radius |
Ionic radius | Energy of first ionization |
| Si | 14 | 28.0855 g.mol -1 | 1.8 | 2.33 g.cm-3 at 20 °C | 1410 °C | 3265 °C | 0.132 nm | 0.271 nm (-4) ; 0.041 (+4) | 786.3 kJ.mol-1 |
| PRODUCT CATALOG | U.S. Operations | Submicron & Nanopowder | Tolling | Ultra High Purity | Sputtering Target | Crystal Growth | Rod, Plate, Powder, etc. | Foil |
