silicon

Also known as element 14, 14Si

Silicon (, ) is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent non-metal (sometimes considered as a metalloid) and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic table: carbon is above it; and germanium, tin, lead, and flerovium are below it. It is relatively unreactive. Silicon is a significant element that is essential for several physiological and metabolic processes in plants. Silicon is widely used as a semiconductor material in various electrical devices such as transisto

OverviewAI-generated

Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. Its standard atomic weight is 28.085. The element exhibits oxidation states of 3, 4, -3, and -2. Its electron configuration is described as 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p² or [Ne] 3s² 3p². The electronegativity of silicon is 1.90, and its ionic radius is 0.40.

The substance has a density of 2.3290 and a melting point of 2570. Its boiling point is 4271, with a vapor pressure of 0. The standard molar entropy is 18.8. Silicon was discovered in 1823. It is referenced by 2,848 other encyclopedia articles. The Unicode character for silicon is "矽".

Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, PubChem, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Chemical data

Formula: Si
Molecular weight: 28.085 g/mol
IUPAC name: silicon
SMILES: [Si]
InChIKey: XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Polar surface area: 0 Å²
H-bond donors: 0
H-bond acceptors: 0
Formal charge: 0

via PubChem

Research

126,041 papers

Silicon: A neglected micronutrient essential for bone health.ReviewExperimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2021Rondanelli M, Faliva MA, Peroni G et al.DOI: 10.1177/1535370221997072
Silicon.ReviewNutrition reviews · 1975Carlisle EMDOI: 10.1007/978-1-4684-4775-0_11
Black Silicon Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Biosensors: Current Advances and Prospects.ReviewBiosensors · 2024Padrez Y, Golubewa LDOI: 10.3390/bios14100453
Silicon nanohybrid-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensors.ReviewSmall (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2014Wang H, Jiang X, Lee ST et al.DOI: 10.1002/smll.201401563
Plant Silicon Defences Suppress Herbivore Performance, but Mode of Feeding Is Key.Ecology letters · 2024Johnson SN, Waterman JM, Hartley SE et al.DOI: 10.1111/ele.14519
Silicon nanomaterials platform for bioimaging, biosensing, and cancer therapy.ReviewAccounts of chemical research · 2014Peng F, Su Y, Zhong Y et al.DOI: 10.1021/ar400221g
Two-Dimensional Silicene/Silicon Nanosheets: An Emerging Silicon-Composed Nanostructure in Biomedicine.ReviewAdvanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2021Ma L, Song X, Yu Y et al.DOI: 10.1002/adma.202008226
Silicon: the health benefits of a metalloid.ReviewMetal ions in life sciences · 2013Martin KRDOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7500-8_14

via PubMed

~31 min read

Encyclopedic overview

27 sections

Contents

History
Discovery
Silicon semiconductors
Silicon Age
Characteristics
Physical and atomic
Electrical
Crystal structure
Isotopes
Chemistry and compounds
Occurrence
Production
Applications
Compounds
Alloys
Electronics
Quantum dots
Thermal energy storage
Biological role
Marine microbial influences
Human nutrition
Safety
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links

Because of its high chemical affinity for oxygen, it was not until 1823 that Jöns Jakob Berzelius was first able to prepare it and characterize it in pure form. Its oxides form a family of anions known as silicates. Its melting and boiling points of 1414 °C and 3265 °C, respectively, are the second highest among all the metalloids and nonmetals, being surpassed only by boron.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “silicon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.