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Silica is found in nature as the mineral quartz, and its polymorphs. On Earth, a wide variety of silicate minerals occur in an even wider range of combinations as a result of the processes that have been forming and re-working the crust for billions of years.
Hydrated silica is a form of silicon dioxide, which has a variable amount of water in the formula. When dissolved in water, it is usually known as silicic acid . It is found in nature as opal [ 2 ] (which has been mined as a gemstone for centuries), and in the cell walls of diatoms .
At very high pressure, such as exists in the majority of the Earth's rock, even SiO 2 adopts the six-coordinated octahedral geometry in the mineral stishovite, a dense polymorph of silica found in the lower mantle of the Earth and also formed by shock during meteorite impacts.
Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula SiO 2, commonly found in nature as quartz. [5] [6] In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant families of materials, existing as a compound of several minerals and as a
Silylation is the introduction of one or more (usually) substituted silyl groups (R 3 Si) to a molecule. Silylations are core methods for production of organosilicon chemistry.
Colloidal silica gel with light opalescence. Silica gel is an amorphous and porous form of silicon dioxide (silica), consisting of an irregular tridimensional framework of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms with nanometer-scale voids and pores. The voids may contain water or some other liquids, or may be filled by gas or vacuum.
These products are often called precipitated silica or silica sols. Hydrogen ions from the surface of colloidal silica tend to dissociate in aqueous solution, yielding a high negative charge. Substitution of some of the Si atoms by Al is known increase the negative colloidal charge, especially when it is evaluated at pH below the neutral point.
The silica cycle plays an important role in long term global climate regulation. The global silica cycle also has large effects on the global carbon cycle through the carbonate-silicate cycle. [43] The process of silicate mineral weathering transfers atmospheric CO 2 to the hydrologic cycle through the chemical reaction displayed above. [4]