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Beryllium oxide ( BeO), also known as beryllia, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula BeO. This colourless solid is an electrical insulator with a higher thermal conductivity than any other non-metal except diamond, and exceeds that of most metals. As an amorphous solid, beryllium oxide is white. Its high melting point leads to its use as a refractory material. It occurs in nature as the mineral bromellite. Historically and in materials science, beryllium oxide was called glucina or glucinium oxide, owing to its sweet taste.
Beryllium oxide formed at high temperatures (>800 °C) is inert, but dissolves easily in hot aqueous ammonium bifluoride (NH4HF2) or a solution of hot concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4).
In the vapour phase, beryllium oxide is present as discrete diatomic molecules. In the language of valence bond theory, these molecules can be described as adopting sp orbital hybridisation on both atoms, featuring one σ bond (between one sp orbital on each atom) and one π bond (between aligned p orbitals on each atom oriented perpendicular to the molecular axis). Molecular orbital theory provides a slightly different picture with no net σ bonding (because the 2 s orbitals of the two atoms combine to form a filled sigma bonding orbital and a filled sigma* anti-bonding orbital) and two π bonds formed between both pairs of p orbitals oriented perpendicular to the molecular axis. The sigma orbital formed by the p orbitals aligned along the molecular axis is unfilled. The corresponding ground state is ...(2sσ)2(2sσ*)2(2pπ)4 (as in the isoelectronic Diatomic carbon molecule), where both bonds can be considered as dative bonds from oxygen towards beryllium.9788170239116, Allied Publishers. . ISBN 9788170239116
Sintered beryllium oxide is a very stable ceramic.Petzow, Günter; Aldinger, Fritz; Jönsson, Sigurd; Welge, Peter; van Kampen, Vera; Mensing, Thomas; Brüning, Thomas (2005) "Beryllium and Beryllium Compounds" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. Beryllium oxide is used in rocket engines and as a transparent Anti-corrosion on Silvering Curved mirror. Metal-coated beryllium oxide (BeO) plates are used in the control systems of aircraft drive devices.
Beryllium oxide is used in many high-performance semiconductor parts for applications such as radio equipment because it has good thermal conductivity while also being a good electrical insulator. It is used as a filler in some thermal interface materials such as thermal grease. It is also employed in heat sinks and spreaders that cool electronic devices, such as CPUs, lasers, and power amplifiers. Some power semiconductor devices have used beryllium oxide ceramic between the silicon chip and the metal mounting base of the package to achieve a lower value of thermal resistance than a similar construction of aluminium oxide. It is also used as a structural ceramic for high-performance microwave devices, , , and . BeO has been proposed as a neutron moderator for naval marine high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (MGCR), as well as NASA's Kilopower nuclear reactor for space applications.
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