Boron

Luciteria Verified independent store

→

Despite its placement on the Periodic Table right next to carbon, familiar to literally just about everyone and perhaps nature’s most versatile atom, boron remains one of the most obscure and elusive of the elements. It is not particularly rare. Its minerals are used in a long list of household products. Borax, boric acid and borosilicate glass are just three common chemicals whose name hints at this key ingredient. But while its cousin carbon is easily found in the elemental state, boron is absolutely never found free of chemical attachments. In fact, these bonds are so tenacious that engineers really have to work at it when attempting to get to its pure form. So laborious was the task that it took nearly a century after its identification as an element before someone managed to isolate it this way.The need for boron in electronics applications nowadays has given rise to industrial refining processes that yield black crystals of very high purity. For this dome we choose a cluster of these crystals affording the owner the chance to examine up close the texture of this shy and little-known element. Show more