What Is Silicon Dioxide

Silicon dioxide is an acidic oxide, solid at room temperature, and its chemical formula is SiO₂. Silica is insoluble in water, insoluble in acid, but soluble in hydrofluoric acid and hot concentrated phosphoric acid, and can work with molten alkalis. Silica has a wide range of uses, mainly for making glass, water glass, pottery, enamel, etc. Pure natural silica crystal is a hard, brittle, and insoluble colorless and transparent solid, which is often used in the manufacture of optical instruments.

Physical Properties of Silicon Dioxide

Silica is also called silica, and its chemical formula is SiO₂. There are two kinds of crystalline silica and amorphous silica in nature. The diatomaceous earth that exists in nature is amorphous silica, which is the remains of diatoms of lower aquatic plants. It is a white solid or powder, porous, light, and soft solid with strong adsorption and insoluble in water.

The Chemical Properties of Silicon Dioxide

The chemical properties of silica are relatively stable. Does not react with water. It is an acidic oxide and does not react with ordinary acids. The gaseous hydrogen fluoride reacts with silicon dioxide to produce gaseous silicon tetrafluoride. Reacts with hot concentrated alkali solution or molten alkali to produce silicate and water. Reacts with a variety of metal oxides at high temperatures to form silicates. Used in the manufacture of quartz glass, optical instruments, chemical utensils, ordinary glass, refractory materials, optical fibers, ceramics, etc. The nature of silica is inactive. It does not interact with halogens, hydrogen halides, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and perchloric acid other than fluorine and hydrogen fluoride (except hot concentrated phosphoric acid).

Silicon Dioxide Applications

Silica is used in the manufacture of flat glass, glass products, foundry sand, glass fiber, ceramic glaze, sandblasting for rust prevention, sand for filtering, flux, refractory materials and the manufacture of lightweight bubble concrete. Silica has a wide range of uses. The rare crystals in nature can be used to manufacture important parts, optical instruments and handicrafts in the electronics industry. Silica is an important raw material for manufacturing optical fibers. Generally pure quartz can be used to make quartz glass. Quartz glass has a very small expansion coefficient, equivalent to 1/18 of ordinary glass. It can withstand drastic changes in temperature and has good acid resistance (except HF). Therefore, quartz glass is often used to manufacture high temperature resistant chemical instruments.

Researchers from the Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, National University of Singapore have developed a new technology that can convert infrared light into ultraviolet and visible light through silica nanoparticles, paving the way for non-invasive treatment of deep tumors. It is said that this technology can inhibit tumor growth and control its gene expression. It is the world's first non-invasive photodynamic therapy using nanoparticles to treat deep tumors.

The Harm of Silicon Dioxide

Silica has important uses in daily life, production and scientific research, but sometimes it can cause harm to the human body. Silica dust is extremely fine, with a specific surface area of more than 100m2/g, which can be suspended in the air. If people inhale dust containing silica for a long time, they will suffer from silicosis (because silicon was formerly called silicosis, and silicosis was formerly called silicosis) .

Silicosis is an occupational disease. Its occurrence and severity depend on the content of dust in the air, the content of silica in the dust, and the time of contact with people. People who work in places with high silica dust content for a long time, such as mining, sand foundry, sandblasting, ceramics, refractory and other places, are susceptible to this disease.

Therefore, in these dusty workplaces, strict labor protection measures should be adopted, and a variety of technologies and equipment should be used to control the dust content in the workplace to ensure the health of the workers.

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